5 Talents Become 10 Talents & More

This morning I had this wonderful one hour quiet time before I read my draft sermon to prepare for a 7.30am service. I read Matthew 25 and Jesus' parable about the talents - one given 5, the second, two and the third, 1 talent. One talent is not little but worth a weight in gold. This parable teaches us that every believer has at least one gift and this gift is not something minor but something significant and when used accordingly can bring great results. As we know, the first 2 servants are praised for their industriousness, the 5 achieving 5 more talents, making it 10 and the 2 also doubling his productivity and gains two more talents. But the one with one talent appears lethargic and folds his arms and refuses to trade but instead hides his talent. The result is that the servant is called, "wicked and lazy" and punished accordingly and has his one talent taken away. By logic, it appears more just to give the talent to the one with 4 talents (2 + 2) since he has less than the one with 10 talents but Jesus goes on to announce that this one talent from the lazy servant is given to the one with 10 talents with the attendant saying that, "to the more, more will be given so that he can have even more". It assumes that the 10-talent person could produce even more, perhaps exponentially and bring much glory to his Lord.
When I read Jesus' teaching, I stood with fear and trembling. I know that the Lord has given me several talents and 2 or 3 talents are under-utilized for the past few years. And I know if I don't flow into these giftings, evident since I commenced full-time ministry 20 years ago, these talents may be taken from me. If that is the case, I shall be miss out on God's purposes for me, at best working to half my capacity and at the end, the Lord is not glorified and I may have to settle for the second best which in the Lord's estimation is simply not good enough. BTW, I preached 3 times this morning until the last service ended at 1pm. By the grace of God, I told the youth pastor when she asked me how I was doing and I replied, "I survived." The Lord is wonderful and He blessed His people by His Word today, mostly based on Rev 16 on the 7 last plagues of God's Wrath and I titled my sermon as "True and Just are Your Judgments" (16:7).