Wednesday, March 14, 2018

The Talent 3/12-14/18

12-14 March 2018 - The Talent – Manna by Dorothy Callies  

Theme: A Hard Man!
Matthew 25:14-23, 28-29; Matthew 24-27, 30
A story of a man who traveled from far country came to the place where he owns servants and decided to give them money to invest in their works and to make profit for him. Two of the servants diligently worked with the money that was given to them and they gained more profits. But there was one servant who decided to bury the money and hid it.

Notice something: It took a long time for the master to come back and to check how those servants were doing. Those two servants did a good job and surprised rewards for their labor were to become ruler or being in charge of many things.  Clearly, the master was looking for someone whom he could be trusted to handle the affairs or business for him.

When the lord or master came to this servant who buried the talent, he found that the servant had an attitude problem against him. The master said that he was a lazy servant who did nothing for him. The master has no used for him in his country.  He cannot be trusted. So the master cast him out into outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The point of this story:  This was about the attitude of servant who thought that the master was a hard man who took advantage of him, gave money to use for his labor and get profit from his work while the master do nothing. That attitude of a lazy servant sent himself to the outer darkness.

Although he was a servant to the master, yet the attitude of the servant had destroyed his own future plan. The master could have given him a promotion to be in charge of important jobs. The lazy servant didn’t seem to care and think nothing of it. He just thought, “Why should I do things for him?” That kind of attitude affects his future, the outer darkness (Matthew 25:24-27, 30).

This is a warning to us if we ever thought that God, the Creator is a hard master who doesn’t have any feeling about us and many things that was going on in the world. Even in USA, the shootings in many places, the crazy weather around the world, and so many things had happened that we couldn’t believe what was going on.

Prayer: Oh Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, please forgive us if we ever thought that . . . Teach us to be patience and trust in Your wisdom in all things and that You have a great plan for us.  You are waiting for more people to accept Your Son, Jesus Christ who died for the world (John 3:16).  Help us to be truly faithful servants so You would welcome us home to be with You and gives rewards for our labor.  We love You, we worship You . . . In Jesus’ name. Amen!

Song: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
His word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Chorus:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
(Helen Howarth Lemmel, Sing His Praise)

May the Lord uplift your heart and bless you!

Dorothy

PS. Commentary from ‘The Full Life Study Bible,’ Matthew 25:15, TALENTS:
The parable of the talents warns us that our place and service in heaven will depend on the faithfulness of our lives and service here (on earth) (v. 29). A talent represents our abilities, time, resources, and opportunities to serve God while on earth.  These things are considered by God as a trust that we are responsible to administer (to manage the personal business) in the wisest possible way.

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