Talent
Did you know that the English word "talent" comes from Matthew 25:14-30?
We totally missed the point of the parable.
Jesus tells the story of a wealthy man goes on a journey, and leaves some money with three servants (5, 3, and 1 talents each). The first two servants invest the money wisely and double their money. The third servant goes and buries the money in a field.
When the wealthy man comes home, he asks his servants for a report on how they did. The first two come forward and explain that they invested the money and doubled it. The man praises them highly and welcomes them into his home. But the third servant admits that instead of using the money, he buried it. The man gets angry at the irresponsible servant and throws him out of the house.
The point of the parable, we say, is to use all our talents for Christ! Whether we are talented at singing, basketball, math, or poetry - we should invest them for God.
This is true! You should do all things for the glory of God, and you should use what God gave you for His kingdom. But that is not the point.
How can I be so sure? Because I know what a real talent is.
A talent is a measure of currency. And if you are like me, you probably thought it was a coin. Because today there are two types of currency: bills and coins. And they didn't have bills in Jesus' time.
But a talent isn't a coin or a bill. It is a SEVENTY-FIVE POUND BAR - like this picture:
Today, seventy-five pounds of gold is worth $1.5 million.
The master didn't leave his servants with a few coins or a few Franklins to go invest. He left them with unimaginable wealth that changed their lives.
What, then, did God give us that is of immeasurable worth. What transformed us from lowly servants to royalty?
The gift of His Son. The gift of The Gospel.
How then, will we use (or hid and waste) the great gift of the Gospel? We have been entrusted with it, but our Father is coming back, and he will want to know what we did with the time and the gift that He gave to us.
Will we be like the wise servants? Or the foolish one?
