Investing the Talents
"For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability."
- Matthew 25:14-15
Christ apportions the talents. Having more or less is the result of His will. We do not all operate on the same level.
"His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
- Matthew 25:21
The purpose of the gifts is to faithfully invest them. Investment will result in fruit. The goal is not to acquire more compared to another servant or be in competition with them. It is to provide a return to the master who gave you the gifts in the first place.
"[Y]ou ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."
- Matthew 25:-27-29
The gifts carry with them the weight of responsibility: greater blessing = greater responsibility. When we compare ourselves to one another or when we covet what another has, we err because we desire what they have for the purposes of indulgence and not responsibility.
Our giftedness is ours to steward according to the wisdom and guiding hand of God. It is not to be compared with others. It is not to be shown off as a display of our own greatness. Our gifts are investments from our king, and He expects a return. May He be gracious to give us what we need in order to generate one.
In the meantime, be on the watch against covetousness in your heart. It reveals not only presumptuous desire and thanklessness for what you do have, but also a lack of understanding of why you have it.
God is not interested in equity. He is interested in faithfulness regardless of where He has placed us. Both of the servants who invested the king's talents received the same reward: "You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." The only one who missed out was the one who refused to do what his lord asked him to do.
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