Matthew 25: 14-18 "It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money.
19-21 "After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'
22-23 "The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'
24-25 "The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'
26-27 "The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
28-30 " Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'
When we accept Jesus as our savior we receive gifts to be invested in the lives of others. Some have been given the ability to speak words of wisdom into the lives of others. Other gifts are words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues or interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10).
We are givien these gifts by the Holy Spirit according to His will and they are given us to be used for the glory of God. With salvation comes a responsibility to serve within and outside of the body of Christ (The Church).
Later in Matthew 25: 31-46 We find that when Christ returns he will separate people according to how they used their gifts. Those who got out of the pew and the walls of their church building and went out to the poor, the hungry, the hurting, the ones in prison will find a greater reward than those who comfortably sat on their gifts and responsibilites.
The question for you and me is, "What are we doing with the gifts and responsibilities we have been given? Are we investing them in the lives of others or have we safely buried them deep in our heart?"
I want to encourage you to turn off the television one evening a week, get up off the couch and take a risk of using at least one of your gifts by investing in the life of another person.
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