Day: 19
Text: Matt. 25:14-30.
Introduction-
Every investment demand returns and the more the returns, more investment will be made. The parable of the talents depicts God as an investor who invest gifts and ability into people but also demands a return on investment on the gifts.
This parable focusses on the following:
- The gift
- The recipients
- What the recipients did with the gift
- The reward
Life Lessons–
1. God gives Gifts
God gives to everyone
- for the sinners He gave the gift of His Son Jesus Christ- John 3:16
- for the saved- those who have received Jesus as their savior, He gave the Gifts of the Spirit.
Once you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you receive the Holy Spirit and then receive the gifts of The Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 1 Corinthians 7:7
Your gift could be ministry gift, leadership, financial, marketplace, etc. but the ability to carry out the gifting comes from the Holy Spirit. Romans 12:6-8
2. Gifts are based on our capacity
The master gave each person different gifts based on their capacity. You only pour into a container the capacity it can hold, except you intend to waste the content. God knows the capacity of everyone and He gifts to everyone according to their capacity 1 Corinthians 12:11, Roman 12:6.
3. God expects us to use the gifts in the way He intends
Gifts are God’s property not ours, and because of the lack of clear understanding of this people think they can use their gifts the way the want. We are only caretakers of the gifts not owners. The third servant thought he could take liberty on how to use the gift he was given; hence he buried it Matthew 25:25. Every gift has an assignment from the giver of the gift that we have to follow to the letter failure to do that can be very costly.
Life Applications
1. Understand the purpose of your gift
Seek to understand the purpose of the gift God has given you. We might have gift that are unique or peculiar, we must prayerfully seek to understand what this gift is for and how to use it. When we understand the purpose of the gift, then it becomes easier to position, use the gifts and make the impact.
2. Use Your Gifts
Using our gifts blesses lives and brings God glory, if God did not intend for us to use it, He would not have given it to us. He does not want us to hide our gifts, instead He wants us to use it. There are rewards when we use our gifts, you will be rewarded by God and by men Proverbs 18:16. When we use our gifts, our capacity begins to increase and God begins to give us more gifts and more assignments.
1 Peter 4:10, Matthew 25:29
3. Don’t be selfish, fearful & lazy
The third servant was selfish, he only thought about himself and not the master or the gift. Matthew 25:24-26. We understand that not all gifts are meant to give us direct benefits from man to us, but God will definitely reward us when we use our gifts faithfully. Fear is another reason people don’t use their gifts- fear of rejection, fear of I don’t think my gift is good enough. We must overcome fear and laziness by praying and using the gift God has given us.
Lesson of the Day
God has given everyone a gift, He trust you that is why He gave you the gift. He is coming back to take account on what you have done with the gifts. Start using your gifts today!
Complied by: Lekan Daramola
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