I recently heard a teaching on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. One servant was given 5 talents from his master, one 3 talents and one was given one talent. The parable tells the story of what each one did with their talent or talents and whether or not they were able to multiply their talents by investing them in something. Of course the one with 5 did really well...the one with 3 did well also ...but the one with only one talent did nothing to increase the value of his talent. In fact, he hid it. He said he was afraid of the master and gave his master the one talent back hoping that would be sufficient.
A talent back then was about $1,000 but a talent doesn't have to be money to see the kingdom "law of use" manifest. Personal and corporate development come out of this principle. If we use the "talents" that were given to us to benefit others and ourselves there should be an increase.
It really makes you stop and think about what talents we have each received and whether or not we are using them to benefit the whole. Setting goals to increase in whatever we do can guarantee success to those who apply it in their physical, intellectual, relational and financial opportunities.
Take Grandma C. for instance. Now there's a woman with at least 5 talents! We met many moons ago at a boy scout meeting. We both home schooled our children and we both had rowdy little boys that liked all the things little boys like (snakes and snails and puppy dog tails) Our friendship grew as we engaged in home school co-ops, camping and friendship days. We now enjoy gorgeous grandma club and often times get together for grand boy outings!
Grandma C. is one of the most creative women I know. Her talent for words and design makes for beautiful scrapbook photo albums, greeting cards which include personalized poems and encouragement to the recipient and just a beautiful eye for found items that usually turn into wow items! I secretly am afraid she will start blogging and take away any followers I might have. LOL! J/K She would be awesome at blogging.
At one of our gorgeous grandma club meetings, Grandma C(middle in the back row). brought all her amazing array of scrapbook materials from paper to grommets to stamps to tags and ribbons. I didn't know there could be so much to draw from. She encouraged and walked us through a small photo album that we made from card stock. (It was inspired by a tribute photo book of Barney Fife she did for my husband who is an avid Mayberry fan.) I was very intimidated by my lack of creativity in this area but Grandma C. made it easy and fun. In the end Nana N. (first in front row)and I went to the nearby hospital and prayed for people and gave them our humble home made photo book for them to put their own photos in. Would you believe some smiled and some cried and all were very grateful. (Do not try the hospital visitation. We quickly found out we were not allowed in the rooms and were asked to leave) But God is good. We gave away 4 before we got caught and had one left that we gave to a woman in the elevator who had just lost her brother.In any case, our talents never seem very awesome to ourselves. We are our worse critics. The truth is most of us will never wow 10,000's with our talents but maybe 10 will be inspired by something we said or did. When you are the one receiving from talented people it can be life -changing, awe-inspiring or just make you feel happy. I think that's what our talents are for. To bring increase in love, comfort, encouragement or even challenge to our everyday lives and to keep us connected to one another. I can't go this way alone but I can go a long way with your creative talent nudging me through life.
So don't hide your one talent. Use it! I need you to.
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