Use your talents

Matthew 25:15 "To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.

Jesus tells a parable about three servants that were given money to mange by their owner. A "talent" was an amount of money equal to about 20 years of wages for the average person of that day. The money is a metaphor for the modern day English meaning of the word talent (gifts and abilities). So the idea is that everyone gets a lot. We do not need to overlook that thought. Most people have more ability than they give themselves credit for, and tend to "let themselves off the hook" so to speak. They do nothing for God, and justify it by reasoning that they have no ability.   

Even though everyone got a lot, everyone in this story was not treated the same. One got five talents, another two, and another one.  Jesus does not pretend in this story that all of us are alike. In fact Jesus acknowledges that we are different. Not everyone has the same potential. Some have more potential than others.

This is both relieving and challenging at the same time. It is relieving because it reminds us that God is not going to hold us responsible for doing things that He did not gift us and call us to do. Our tendency sometimes is to compare ourselves to others and to feel guilty that we have not accomplished what they have accomplished. That is just the devil's way of making us feel worthless.

It is challenging at the same time, however. Because it is a reminder that God is going to hold us responsible for using what He has given us. It begs the question from each one of us, "Am I using what the Lord has given me to its full potential?" We should all ponder that question.....