And now, the story of...
Once, in the land of Talang, there was a man who was going on a trip. Before leaving, he gave one of his servants five hundred talents, the currency of Talang. To another servant, he gave two hundred talents, and to a third, one hundred talents. He instructed them to make good use of the money, and he would check in with them upon his return.
Each of the servants did what they thought best, and in time, their master returned from his trip. The first servant explained that he had used the money given to him, and had doubled it to one thousand talents. The second proudly showed his master that he had doubled his to four hundred talents. The man was pleased.
When it came time for the third servant to show what he had done, he returned the one hundred talents back to the master. The man was confused and a little annoyed. His servant told him that he was afraid that something might happen to make him lose the money, and so he had buried it in the ground for safe keeping.
Now the master was angry. "What were you thinking?" he asked. "At the very least you could have put the talents in the bank to earn a little interest!" He took the one hundred talents and gave them to the first servant, then threw his lazy servant out and had nothing to do with him ever again.
The End.
There are many translations of this story, and although not all of them use the word "talent", which is indeed a measure of gold or currency, I think it is for good reason that the master gives his servants "talents". Each of us has things that we are good at or able to do. And those things can apply to many areas of life. So the question is, how are you using the talents you have, and how are you making them grow?
When I'm not feeling so well, I sometimes see things differently than other times. I get down. But that can be good, because it helps you see things that you need to. You see, I have talents. I'm not saying that I'm great, but there are things that I am good at. Or at least that I could be good at. And I'm not so sure that I have made the effort to push myself.
It's too easy to settle for done, and that's a problem. Recently I've seen some things that other people are working on and I've felt inadequate. But what have I done to improve? I don't want to be like others, but I need to be the best version of me possible. It could bring great things!
How about you? What talents do you need to be using or improving?
When you posted your teaser the other day, I became giddy, because I have a great Parable of the Talents story! Each year for Catholic Schools week, my children are required to do a project. My 8th grade son's topic was parables. After doing 7 years worth of CSW projects, he was not terribly motivated for his final one! As the mom of a teen, I am concerned that my children rarely step out of their own cozy, sheltered existence. So I pitched, and he ran with this idea:
ReplyDeleteTo show how the Parable of the Talents was applicable to HIS OWN life, by taking some of his hard-earned allowance and investing it in kiva.org. He carefully chose who he would donate his money to, and then created an amazing presentation explaining the parable, how it applies to his life, microfinance, and his investment! Our whole family is looking forward to the final loan repayment so we can re-invest the money into another Kiva project!
My son used his "talents" to help someone else do something big (with an amount of money that would have bought him very little, normally). I used my "talents" (creative parenting" to drive a valuable lesson home! ;-)
I LOVE that I can check my blog feed and read a bit of Bible. Thank you. I've actually been thinking a lot about this story lately, as I move through some big changes in my life. It's good to realise that it's OK to show our talents... in fact, it's wrong not to!! Keep inspiring people =) x
ReplyDeleteThis couldn't have come at a more fabulous time for me. Glad to know I'm not alone! Everything you just said I've been struggling with the past couple months and it's true, when you're down it makes you put things into perspective and from that am motivated to do better. I still have moments where I feel inadequate but have to trust and keep persevering down the path that He has laid before me! Thank you SO much for sharing. What a lift in my day :)
ReplyDeleteBeing grateful of whichever gift(s) (we all have a gift) the Creator has blessed us with and put them to good use not only for our own benefit but for that of others.
ReplyDeleteyaaaaaaayyy, mollie! another good message!
ReplyDeleteSharing God's Word is awesome Mollie!! Sometimes I do feel inadequate also when I look at all the cute works of artist! But you reminded me that I need to use my gifts!
ReplyDeleteIt´s always good to be reminded that god gave us talents and we must use them and not keep them to ourselves. Thanks you this was a great threat today!! :)
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