Quick question… have you checked your investment portfolio recently? I’m not talking about Guidestone (for you pastors), your 401(k), IRAs, stocks, bonds, savings accounts, or the like… but the investment portfolio that matters most in the long run.
Check it out…
Matthew 25:14-30
14“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.19“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28“‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
You’ve probably read this before… the parable of the talents.
Jesus shared with his disciples about real investment here. God, the Master, has granted us, His servants, some amazing treasures of which we are stewards. Our talents, while not necessarily large sums of money as in the original parable, are extremely valuable to Him, and He’s simply entrusted them to us.
So what are you doing with the portfolio of talents God has entrusted to you while He’s away? Be it money, skills, spiritual gifts, time, energy, relationships, or anything else… God expects us to look at our talent portfolios and invest what we find within for His glory. We’ve got to be about the business of growing His Kingdom.
Will you be found a “good and faithful servant” when He returns? Do you know God’s true character… that He loves you enough to forgive you even if you mess up while trying to invest the “talents” He’s given to you? Or will you be the lazy servant, the one who is so afraid of crossing God… of messing up… of blowing it… that you hide away those things He has entrusted to you in a misguided effort of safekeeping?
Do something with what God has given you. Anything. Just don’t sit on your rear end and watch life go by, missing out on the treasures God has placed out there for you to take hold of and be part of… simply because risk is scary.
Live life. Love God. Serve others.
Attempt something great for God today.
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