The Urgency of Eternity: Caring for Our Talent – Part 2
Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:14-27
Key Verse: Matthew 25:28-30
“‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Continuing from yesterday’s devotional, we see that not only do all God’s children have different gifts and need to develop those gifts, God also judges our efforts. In this parable of Jesus, the two with more than one talent put them to work, doubling the original amount. The one who had been given a single talent, dug a hole in the ground and hid his talent.
The one-talented man was not judged harshly because he only had one talent—that was not of his doing. Nor was he judged harshly because he did not accomplish a lot with his one talent. Our printed key verses tell of his judgment and it was all based on his lack of caring! He did nothing with what God had given him. He dug a hole and put it into the ground. He claimed he was afraid of the harsh taskmaster, but Matthew 25:26 reveals the real problem: “you wicked and lazy servant.”
We can use many excuses for not committing our lives to the work God asks of us, but God knows the eternal truth: He always provides the strength, wisdom and resources to us to accomplish His calling on our lives. There is no good reason for fear. God goes before us! When we are attempting to accomplish His good purposes, He will be there to help us. Let’s sense some urgency to accomplish His calling on our lives!
Father, I give myself to fulfilling your good purpose in me. I will fight fear and step forward into the unknown future knowing you are already there! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.