All we have belongs to God.  ALL of who we have become, all we have in our pockets right now, all we have on our backs, and all we have stored in our hearts, minds and souls.  God, our Father and our Creator, gave us specific abilities at birth.  He gave us Holy Spiritual gifts beyond our created abilities at our rebirth.  When we say yes to Jesus Christ, these Holy gifts begin to take shape as we transform daily into all that God intended for us to be from birth.  Amazing, right?

These Holy Spirit gifts come with the responsibility to grow and use them to help others find and follow Jesus, too.  These gifts grow and bear fruit under God’s care and abiding in us.  These gifts multiply as we use them humbly and gracefully for God’s Kingdom work, not for our glory, but for His.  If God’s precious holy gifts are hidden, stored or worse yet, forgotten they become worthless to His Kingdom.

What gifts will He find in us when He comes? 

Did we use what was given to us well? 

Did we multiply our gifts by investing in learning His Word and growing in Him? 

Did we then use our gifts to help others find and follow Him?

Did we bear the fruits of His Holy Spirit of “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” in the process of our transformation to be like more like Jesus in our walk with Him? (See Galatians 5)

Did we use our Holy gifts to help build His church? (See Ephesians 4) 

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” Ephesians 4:11-16, NLT

OR are we burying our gifts?  (That’s what our foe, Satan, wants us to do.)

Jesus explains this process of using what was given to us in another parable of preparedness for His coming back to claim His own someday. 

Matthew 25

The Parable of the Bags of Gold

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

WHAT DO WE LEARN?

The two men who put their money to work each received the same commendation (Matt. 25:21, 23). It was not the portion but the proportion that made the difference. They started as servants, but their Lord promoted them to rulers. They were faithful with a few things, so the Lord trusted them with many things. They had worked and toiled, and now they entered into joy. Their faithfulness gave each of them a capacity for greater service and responsibility.

The third servant was unfaithful and therefore was unrewarded. Because this man was afraid he might fail, he never tried to succeed. He feared life and his responsibilities. This paralyzed him with anxiety, so he buried the talent to protect it. The least he could have done was put the money in a bank and collect some interest. There was no real risk in that.

What we do not use for the Lord, we are in danger of losing. The master reprimanded the unfaithful, unprofitable servant, and then took his talent from him. The man with the most talents received the extra talent.

USE IT OR LOSE IT! 

It is possible that the one-talent man thought that his one talent was not really very important He did not have five talents, or even two. Why worry about one? Because he was appointed as a steward by the Lord!  Use what has been given to you!!   Were it not for the one-talent people in our world, very little would get accomplished. His one talent could have increased to two and brought glory to his master.

Jesus is our Master, Savior and Lord.  Whatever has been given to us, we must give back to Him and to others wrapped up and delivered by His love, mercy and grace that lives in us.  All for God, the Giver of Life.

These parables of being prepared (see yesterday’s blog) encourage us to love the truth of His appearing, look joyfully expectant for His appearing, and join Him in His work faithfully until He comes. We should be watching, witnessing, and working. We may not be successful in the eyes of other men and women, or even popular with others. But if we are faithful and profitable in using the gifts and abilities God gave us, we shall receive our reward when He comes.

Jesus IS coming back, you know.

Abba Father,

What a reminder of Your Truth today!  I will be meditating on it all day long as I work in Your Name, for Your Glory.  There is still much to do to reconcile the world to a right relationship with you.  Speak to my heart, lead my mind and fill my soul.  I’m listening…and willing.

In Jesus Name, Amen