Scripture: Matthew 25 v 23 - 28: "His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents."
If you are not familiar with the parable of the talents please read the full passage in Matthew 25. A talent was a large round stone like a wheel, which was a unit of money equal to twenty years of a day labourer's wages. So it was worth a fortune.
In the parable three men were given ten, five and one talent respectively. When the rich man returned the men with ten and five talents had doubled their investment, while the man with one had buried it as he was afraid of losing it.
This parable is for all followers of Jesus to understand. He went away but is coming back and is expecting a great return on His investment. He invested His life and He wants many souls to be harvested and ready when He returns.
1 Corinthians 12 v 4 - 7: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal."
This is the chapter that tells us of the spiritual gifts we can enjoy when we are baptised in the Holy Ghost. Verse 7 above states that the manifestation of the Spirit, i.e. His presence in us, is in everyone to profit in many ways. The gifts are not just for a spiritual blessing but can be used in business, relationships and whatever legal, honest and faithful manner that we may need.
Years ago, behind the Russian Iron Curtain of Communism, the clampdown and persecution of Christians was very harsh. In one small town the government knew there was a printing press turning out Christian tracts and messages but they could not find it. They never bothered looking in one elderly lady's house because she was bedridden, crippled by arthritis.
However, she had a typewriter and two fingers that were not too bad and she used her time to type day and night to bring the Word of God to her town and beyond. In the Lord's eyes a ten talent bonus. Whoever came to visit and feed her took away the day's bundle of tracts to be distributed and this continued until this dear saint went to be with the Lord.
In this same period a man known as Brother Andrew smuggled Bibles into Russia from Europe. He was a frequent and known traveller and his car was never checked. Until one day new guards were on the border security and they were checking every vehicle. Andrew prayed that God would make seeing eyes blind. The guard saw the boxes of Bibles but made no comment. God's Smuggler got through again.
In business we can apply any gifts. One day I was driving for an hour to a business appointment. All the while I was driving I was praying or speaking in unknown tongues. Before I arrived at my destination the Lord gave me the interpretation of tongues which led to a very profitable business plan that day. I did not even know that I was getting business instructions while driving!
Many people say tongues and the other gifts are not for today, they are wrong and miss out on many wonderful spiritual and secular blessings. They have buried whatever talent they may have had and will end up with nothing.
Please give God a chance to show us how life should be lived and how, no matter how little we have, it can be used by Him to increase our wealth. Think of Elijah and the woman and her son caught in a famine. She made Elijah a loaf out of her last flour and oil.
The great prophet was so thankful that He told her to gather many vessels, bottles, pans, vats from her neighbours. He blessed the few drops of remaining oil and poured it into all those containers until they were full. She was able to trade oil for food, even paying off all her debts.
So what talent have you been given. Make a list of things you are good at. Lay it before the Lord and ask Him to inspire you so your talents can be used to uplift your family, or others, so that you can be a blessing to Him. So that He may be glorified through how you make the best use of the little you have to offer. He will not ignore you, He will show you a way. It's in His own interest to do so.
So, get up and go today. If you have been hard hit by the pandemic now is the time to stop crying and get busy with Jesus. I only get to write these blogs because a loving friend knew I had a talent to write the things I had learned at the feet if Jesus. He inspired her to find another friend who could put a website together and get this blog on its way. We are going strong for seven years now. May the Lord be thanked for such an opportunity. And those who made it work. And the joy it brings to me.
Prayer: Heavenly Father Your Word says that the dark days are coming when no man can work. We have had a taste of it this year in the lockdown. However, we know Jesus is the light who will guide us even in dark times. Help us to get up and go when He gives us the go ahead. In Jesus' name. Amen.