Two Talents

A master went on a long journey and called his servants together and gave each a certain amount of money --a talent. One got five talents, the other two, the last only one. After a long period the master returned and saw what they had done. 'The one with five had five more, the one with two had two more, the one with one had buried that one and got a stinging rebuke from the master. (Matt. 25:14-30)

Most of us can probably identify with the guy who got two talents. He represents the ordinary guy in the world who is about average in talents, abilities, and opportunities.

What he was not:

• He was not a complainer. It would have been an easy thing for him to look at the one with five talents and gripe and groan about his measly two. However, this guy never complained. He realized that complaining never lessens the disparities of life and only, makes them seem worse.
• He was not a comparer. He did not look down on the one with only one talent and bolster his own self esteem through prideful comparisons. He was not like the person who feels jealous of the one who has more and superior to the one who has less.
• He was not a controller. The sin of the one-talent-servant was the controlling, selfish attitude where he thought his talent was to be horded and not invested. The two-talent guy was not like that. He knew that you can never achieve anything really important without some element of risk.

Now, what he was:

• He was a carer. He cared about the master and the master's will. He knew his master's business and worked to please him. If we know and want to do the Lord's will we will be like him. The real motivation for service for God is simply our heart's response to His love for us. All other motivations, such as guilt and fear, will fade before long. The one who cares about God and His will, keeps on serving.
• He was a completer. He finished the task the master gave him to do. When the master returned he did not find him lazing about but working faithfully doing what his master had for him to do. We are like him if we take seriously the tasks God has for us to complete and set our hearts to them, keeping on for God's glory.

What tasks and talents has God given you?
Don't complain.' Don't compare. Don't try to control it all. Place each situation each day in the hands of God and move on. Let the past be the past and trust God for a wonderful future. And God will be there with you each step of the way.