Dear All,
Our neighbor has a German Shepherd and he is a very friendly dog. He is very faithful to his master and when the master comes home, he can be heard barking with joy because of the love for his master.
Faithfulness
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Matthew 25:23
In the parable of the talents, the master was greatly displeased with the servant who buried the talent that was given to him. The master called such a servant ‘wicked and lazy’; he did not want any of his servants to be idle and unproductive because of the high expectations that he had for them. (Matthew 25:26-28)
The Lord has given all of us many talents but sometimes we do not use them. We can identify three reasons for this: they are fear, unbelief and laziness or procrastination.
Firstly, we need to know that God has called us to love Him because He first loved us. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. The man who buried the talent feared the master because he did not have a relationship with Him.
Secondly, we need to believe that the Lord has given us talents which He wants us to use to bring profit to His Kingdom. These precious talents that we have received from Him are given for the purpose of helping others and thereby bringing multiplication and increase to His work. We are all accountable one day to God for how we have used our talents. We will only begin to see fruit when we step out in faith and use the talents we have been given.
Thirdly, we must beware of the negative characteristics of laziness and procrastination. These can hinder and prevent us from using the precious giftings and talents that God has so graciously entrusted us with.
Are we struggling in any one of these areas? God is willing to give us the power to overcome if we begin to trust and rest in Him so that through the Holy Spirit, we can rise with His power to serve Him in faithfulness and diligence.
Dear Lord,
I thank You for the many talents that You have given me. Please help me to trust in You so that I can use them for the glory of Your Kingdom and be faithful to all that You have given me. Amen.
God bless you,
Theo and Manju