Faithfulness with our gifts from God

I love stories. I have more books than my shelves can hold, and every time a story comes on the radio I turn it up a little louder so I don’t miss a word. Something about stories pull me in. Often I don’t even realize how much I learn from stories. Jesus knew how much we could learn from stories and He used parables all throughout His preaching. One of my favorite parables is in Matthew 25: 14-30 called “The Parable of the Bags of Gold”. The story starts with a master leaving and entrusting all of his wealth to his three servants. In Verse 15 , “...he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.” One bag of gold was worth about “20 years of a day laborers wage” according to the Proverbs 31 women’s bible. The master was rich and must have trusted his servants greatly to put them in charge of all of his wealth. In verse 16, the servants with five bags and two bags go out and double their amount. The servant with one bag goes out, digs a hole, and hides the money. As the story continues, the master returns after being away for a long time, and the plot thickens. The first two servants who doubled what was entrusted to them come and present the gold to their master. One servant earned five more bags of gold while the other earned only two more. In verses 21 and 23 the master thanked them in the same way, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master’s happiness” Then the third servant, having dug up his one bag, comes to the master and says he was afraid so he hid the gold. He returns the same amount given to him. The master rebukes the servant calling him “wicked and lazy” and the master gives the one bag to the other servants. The master says in verse 29, “For whoever has will be given more and they will have abundance”

Wow, that’s a pretty amazing parable. The story always makes me wonder. What if the third servant had not hidden his bag? Verse 15 says the bags were given “each according to his ability” so the master knew what each could handle and gave them responsibility accordingly. I would want to be the servant granted the 5 bags or even the 2 bags, but I would be hurt if I only received one. I would probably feel jealous against the other two servants. In Greek, the money these servants are given is called talents, I found this interesting because often I am comparing the talent God gave me with those of others. Sometimes we feel like the servant given the one bag afraid to use our talents because they don’t feel as important as another person’s. Even with that bag he could have at least gotten another, who knows maybe even the same amount as the other men. We will never know because the third servant was “afraid” and his master’s household did not grow. If there is one thing this story tells me it is that God our master has given us what we need to do what He wants in His way to grow His kingdom. We have a treasure greater than gold or talents, we have been given heaven and ,our Master, has called us to go grow his kingdom on earth, not hide it. By being faithful with the talents we have been given not only can we grow God’s kingdom but “when we are faithful with little” we will be given more. How precious are the gifts we have been given, how much more precious to share for God’s glory!