Monday Morning Devo - The Kingdom of Heaven is Like ... (Part 11)

This is another one of those long passages, but you can read it by right-clicking HERE and selecting "open in tab;" or you can pick up your favorite version of the Bible and open to Matthew 25:14-30. Or pick from your memory the parable of the talents.

Let me restate it as briefly as I can: A landowner is going to be gone for some time, so he leaves three servants in charge of his operating funds. He gives the first man five talents, the second two talents, and the third one talent. The first man and the second man invested and doubled what they were given. The third one buried his. When the master returned he was happy with the first two. The third one, though, was in big trouble.

In the first century, a talent was a lot of money. This passage doesn't say if they were gold or silver talents, but even five silver talents would be worth the equivalent of over a million dollars in today's world. The master entrusted these servants with an amazing amount of money.

Today we talk about talent being the gifts given to us by God, and we greatly admire a person with a fabulous voice or who has written books that sell millions of copies.

Those are nice talents, but the talent of raising your children to be God following, drug-free, and responsible adults--wow, now that's talent. Producing a meal that everyone loves and is still filled with the nutrition they need--that's talent. The yards you see that are a pleasure to the eyes--that's talent.

God is God, and He alone decides who gets which talents and how many. If I spend my life wishing I had someone else's talents and not using the ones I have, I would be like the guy who dug a hole and buried his.

Remember the guy who had five talents, and he doubled what he had? Sometimes, when we use what talents He give us, we get more!

Prayer: Father God--please help us. Sometimes we don't understand that what we can do is a talent. Father, it's Your desire that people see the talents they have and begin cherishing and using them. Help us see and do what You desire! Amen.