What are You Doing with What God Gave You?
“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
Matthew 25:23
As a Christian, you know the gospel. The gospel is so simple Jesus said that even a child can understand it (see Matthew 18:3). Further, because of the New Covenant–which is God permanently making His home in us–the gospel is written on every believer’s heart. Each one of us, from the most educated to the least, we know the gospel because of God combining Himself with our very own spirits! (See Hebrews 8:11).
Since we know the gospel–which is, place your faith in Jesus to get a new life–we have one of God’s greatest investments in our beings–the truth! The question is, what are we going to do with it?
When we meet God face to face after we die or when Christ returns, He would love to have a return on His investment. He’s not looking for us to do anything we can’t do, but He is wanting us to do what we can do: invest in the gospel with our talents.
Investing in the gospel is very important to say the least. This is why we must use what He’s given us in the form of gifts, talents, and abilities to help others make it to heaven and improve their lives on earth. This happens when they get a new life, Christ’s life! (See Colossians 3:4, Philippians 1:21, Galatians 2:20, John 1:4).
To be clear, using what we’ve been gifted with to spread the gospel should always be done from a state of rest. Pressure and stress does not come from God (see Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Remember, we are branches and Jesus is the vine (see John 15:5). Branches don’t stress out about anything, they simply rely on their source of life and be themselves. We got it good!
Here’s a parable Jesus told about how to invest in the gospel. In this parable, what God has given us, Jesus calls bags of gold. However, in other versions of the Bible the word talents is used. This is where we get the expression, “Use your talents for God.” As you’ll see, He’s given each of us different amounts of talents and the amount of talents is not what’s important to Him–investing it is:
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.”
His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
The man with two bags of gold also came. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.”
His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”
His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:14-30)
I know the end of this parable sounds really harsh, but please be sure to know this is not a story of a Christian losing their salvation because they’ve not done enough. That would be impossible because Jesus has already done everything (see John 19:30). In my opinion, the man who went and hid his knowledge of the gospel, he never believed. People who believe don’t call God harsh. Instead of believing and investing, he heard the information, received it into his head, but never accepted it as the truth in his heart. It doesn’t say either way, but knowing how God works and the attitude this person had toward God, that makes sense to me. The others loved God enough to invest, yet this man didn’t even see God as good. Sounds like an unbeliever to me.
So today, my friends, know this: Jesus has given you His truth for a reason, to spread it! He’s given each of us talents to invest in different ways! He wants us to use what we’ve got to multiply the population of heaven and to show people an abundant life in Christ! So begin today! Just say, “God, use me!” and He will! Don’t hide your talents any longer, use them for God! You’ll never regret it!
A prayer for you: Good morning Heavenly Father. Thank you for a great night’s sleep, and thanks for waking me up again today. I’m excited to live life! I also want to thank you for gently guiding me into finally using my talents of writing and communication for you–and thanks for never giving up on me! Right now, I lift up all who are reading this, directly to you. For those who are thinking, “What is my talent?” reveal it to them! Show them exactly what it is! They probably already know, but make it clear! Also, reveal to them that they’re allowed to try out anything and if it’s part of their purpose you’ll make it successful! Help them to set new goals and to keep moving forward into the knowledge of your grace! In Christ’s name I pray, amen.
This devotional is from 60 Days for Jesus, Volume 2. Get your copy here!