February 18, 2024

Jesus uses this story to point out that God makes an investment in each of us. God gives us time. God gives us talents and spiritual gifts. God gives us opportunities as He places us in certain places and certain circumstances. These investments are different for each of us. Some of us are given lots of time. Like the man in my former church who lived to be 106! Some of us have been given an abundance of talent. Others of us have been given unique and special opportunities. Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers” points out that many people who we think are super smart or incredibly skilled are actually just people who were placed in unique circumstances with opportunities others didn’t have. But all of these things are gifts from God that He expects us to make the most of.
One of the problems, though, is that we often look at others who may have more than us in one or two of these areas and become discouraged. But that’s the wrong approach. The key is to focus on what we DO have and make the most of it. I remember a conversation with a woman in our church some years ago who felt as if she didn’t have anything to offer because she didn’t have any special talents, nor did she have hardly any money to contribute to the church. But as I talked with her, she admitted she did have lots of TIME. So she began coming in during the week and helping us in the office with the thousand little tasks that consumed so much time—making copies, stuffing envelopes, answering the phone… She became an INVALUABLE asset to the church and made a huge difference in our ministry. She didn’t have what others had. But what she DID HAVE was AWESOME.
Do YOU. Don’t worry about what other people have or what other people can do. Don’t focus on the superstars, the people who make everyone say, “Wow,” or the people who you think you wish you were. God didn’t make you to be them. He made you to be YOU. So take what He gave you and prayerfully consider how you might put it to work for His Kingdom. Sometimes what you think may not be worth much may be exactly what God needs somewhere. God’s made an investment in you. So do you. That’s God’s Word for you today.