Jesus tells the story of a master who entrusts his property to each of his servants, before embarking on a journey. To one servant he gives 5 talents of money, to another he gives 2 talents of money and to the third he gives 1 talent of money, according to their abilities.
When he returns from his journey, he finds that the first two servants have worked hard to multiply their talents (both doubling their given amount), returning more to their owner than what they were given. Unfortunately, he finds that the third servant did nothing with the talent he was given. He simply buried it and then gave it back to his master without any return on his investment.
Obviously, the master's response to the first two servants was very different than his response to the third servant. To the first two he 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!"
And to the third he replied...
"You wicked, lazy servant...Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For 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. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Wow. I don't know about you, but I know which response I am hoping to hear when I get to Heaven!
Which leads me to the question, "what are you doing with the resources that God has entrusted you with?"
And by resources I mean time, money, talents, people, etc.
Are you using them to further his kingdom? Or simply for selfish gain?
They
are gifts from Him, after all, to be used for His glory.
Family Activity of the Week...
Gather together as a family and discuss how you can use the resources that God has given you to share His love with others. How can you use them to get the non-churchgoers in your life to come to church? How can you use them to share the gospel message of salvation through Christ alone with those who have not yet put their faith and trust in Him? Have each family member give an example of one resource they have been given and how it can be used for God's glory, to further His kingdom. Be sure to leave a comment to let us know who it went.
Did you do
the gentleness challenge from last week?
Don't forget to hang your {Faithfulness} fruit on your Fruit of the Spirit tree and display it in your home as a visual reminder for your family this week, as you focus on faithfulness in your home. Go
here to download the printables that go with our
Making the Fruit of the Spirit Come Alive in Your Home series if you missed our
introductory post. And go
here for Cat's tutorial on how to make your fruit printables into glass pebble magnets, so that you can hang your tree on the refrigerator.
Happy Wednesday, friends! Invite your friends to join us next week as we talk about SELF-CONTROL! :)
About the Author: Erin Vick Franklin is the founder and director of Worthy of the Prize. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization. Erin is the wife of A, a Worship Pastor, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, a and e.
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