In the 25th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is recorded telling what is known as the “Parable of the Talents.” In this parable, three servants are given talents (money) to invest for the master while the master is away. Two of the servants invest the money, and create a nice return on the money to give to the master. The third servant simply buries the money in the ground, not wanting to lose what he was entrusted with. When the master returns, he rewards the first two servants with praise and positions of greater authority, and awards to the servant who had made the greatest return the talent that the third servant had been entrusted with. The third servant is then punished for his lack of diligence.
Jesus intended for the parable to be a lesson about stewardship and faithful service, and it definitely speaks directly to those points. To whom much is given, much is expected. However, there’s another way of looking at this lesson – a trite saying that is applicable to so many facets of our lives. I think in terms of “use it or lose it.”
Here on our island, there are a number of structures spread across our community that have been sitting vacant for years. The longer they sit unoccupied, the larger once-small issues become. Leaks go unnoticed, rodents burrow their way in, mold starts to set in, and things begin to rot. In every instance, someone owns these buildings, yet the owners aren’t using them. They don’t visit them, they don’t stay in them, they don’t fix the little things. And slowly, those little things have become big things. Ultimately, some of those structures will simply deteriorate too far to ever be used again. The building didn’t get used, and so it will be lost.
Our own bodies and minds are the same way. If we literally sit around too much, or don’t do things that keep our minds sharp, we start to deteriorate. Physically and mentally, we peak in our 20’s, but our rate of deterioration has a lot to do with our willingness to use what we were blessed with on a regular basis. Granted, there are those among us who have suffered injuries or diseases that make routine exercise or activity impossible, but most of us don’t have that excuse. If we don’t use it, we will lose it.
All that we have, be it our physical bodies, our families, or our material possessions, are ultimately blessings given to us from God. As is the case with the master in the Parable of the Talents, God expects us to do things with those blessings that are profitable to his kingdom. He doesn’t want those blessings sitting idly, for God knows that they will ultimately waste away and be lost. Therefore, it is his desire that we be good stewards of what we have, and put to use the blessings that he has poured out on us. And if we can’t figure out ways to put them to use personally, perhaps there are others who could benefit from you sharing your blessings with them.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron