This parable of Jesus teaches us to USE the talent that God has given you. To advance the Kingdom of God. Everyone has been given a talent to make profit. Your are given a talent to work at building the Kingdom of God and the work may cost you everything but the payoff is greater then you can imagine. Watch Video
Make a list of the things you do well. Use those talents for God. You may discover that He has given you a new talent; one that you didn't even suspect that you had. Then find a way to use that talent for Him! - Watch Video
Matthew 25:29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
Use it or loose it - Opportunity, Money, Time, Ability
Jesus often told a story to teach a lesson. Hear the story of the talents.
One day a man was going on a long trip. He needed his servants to take care of his property while he was gone, so he called them to him.
The man on the long trip is Jesus - you are the servants whom Jesus called.
To the first servant he gave five talents of money. (A talent was not a coin, but a weight of a precious metal such as silver, and one talent was worth more than $1,000. So this servant received money worth more than $5,000.)
Jesus gave each of us talents in different amounts - Used to prosper the Kingdom.
This man went to work at once using his money until he had doubled it. He now had ten talents instead of five.
A profitable servant will double what ever he is given. double his time, money, ability.
The master gave the second man two talents. He probably thought the man was capable of managing that amount of money. The second man was successful also, and doubled his money. He began with more than $2,000 and now he had twice as much.
The second man was given less, but he also doubled what he was given.
The third man was not as capable as the other two, but the master gave him one talent with the expectation that he would manage it well. He, too, could have increased his money, but he dug a hole and hid it in the ground.
Noticed that he hid his talent, he buried it. He did nothing to increase what God gave him.
After a long time the master returned. (Some think the master's trip is a picture of Jesus returning to heaven, and the return from the trip is the judgment of mankind.) He was ready for a report from the servants.
You are going to have to report on the treasures the God has invested in you!
The man who had received five talents brought his money and showed the master that he had doubled it. He was happy to show his master the results.
This will be the proudest day, all your hard work, commitment, and dedication will pay off.
The master was well pleased. He said, "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!"
Our reward is to rule and dominate with the Lord. If you have not learned to multiply you talents here...why do you think you will be put in charge there.
The man that had been given two talents showed the master that he had also doubled his money. He received the same words of praise as the first man who had received five talents.
Proverbs 13:22
King James Version (KJV)
22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
The man who had received one talent dug up the talent he had buried and brought it to the master. He accused the master of being a hard man to work for, said he had been afraid, so he just buried his talent. He gave it back to the master saying, "See, here is what belongs to you."
God expects increase, you should not come back to God the same way he left you.
The master was very angry with him and called him a wicked, lazy servant. He said the man should at least have put the money with bankers and received some interest. (Now the Jews could not charge nor receive interest from a fellow Jew, but they could get interest from a person who was not a Jew.)
How would you feel about an employee who worked for you all week and at the end of the week your at the same place you where at when you left. He's Useless! Don't Be Useless!
The master took his one talent away from him and gave it to the man who had ten talents, and the one talent man was punished because he had not properly used the talent he had been given.
God will take the blessing from the lazy servant, and give it to a more profitable servant, God will take every opportunity that you passed up. Work you should have profited from will be done by someone else. God's work will get done! By you or someone else, his reward is made ready for the taking.
What can we learn from this story? We need to use whatever "talent" God has given us. It might be money or ability. If we use it wisely, He will increase it so that our lives will glorify Him.