The Talents Mt. 25:14-30. It is unfortunate that the word ‘talent’ is used in this parable! A talent, in biblical times was a substantial sum of money. Today, a talent is a special or unique ability. Yet we take the biblical talent and speak of it as if it was a modern day talent. Beware! Vs. 15. The master distributed the talents, the money, to his servants ‘according to his ability’ and then went away. Obviously there was a range of abilities as there is in any group of people. What is my estimation of my own ability? Can I accept that I am not as gifted as others? Can I accept that there are things I cannot do or that only I can do? Yes, there are things that I think I cannot do but God knows that, with his assistance, I can. I need to know the difference and be realistic and not hide in false humility. There are things that I can do without any difficulty, in my own strength, but these are not necessarily what God wants me to do. Each servant was expected to work and invest the money. Obedience and faithfulness were expected and not success! So often these two are confused in Christian work. We can be faithful without necessarily being successful. We will rarely be successful without being faithful. The masters words were ‘well done good and faithful servant’ and not ‘well done good and successful servant’! The replies, Vs. 20,22, and 24, of the three servants are interesting. The two who had gained 100%, of considerably differing amounts, simply presented the results saying this is what you gave me, this is what I have done, I hope it is ok. The third servant, however, adopts a different style. He starts with an excuse as to why he did nothing! How often, when asked to do something, do we immediately present an excuse [as opposed to a valid reason] as to why we cannot do it? How often when we have not been faithful and obedient, do we present the excuses? Does our relationship with God determine how we react to his requests and to the tasks he gives us? As we think about this there are some useful verses to look at: Lk. 9:62, Col. 3:23,24, Phil. 4:13, Jn. 15:5, and James 4:17. How we respond to these verses will determine our usefulness to God and the growth of his Kingdom. There will always be work for those who are faithful and obedient. For those who are not.…?! Shipwreck? 1 Tim. 1:18,19. In many ways the master is like God: It is he who gives out the money. How it is used should be for everyone’s benefit. He decides who gets what. 1 Cor. 12:4-11. God distributes the ‘gifts’ as he sees fit and expects them to be used for the benefit of all, Vs. 6,7 and 11. Bear in mind that we are answerable to God, not to each other! How do we see ourselves? A one, two or five talent person? Is it important how we see ourselves? What difference does it make? As believers we are called to live a life of faith; Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin, Rom. 14:23b.