Volume 25, Issue 5
WisconsinChristianNews.com
Page 19
Investing Our Abilities Into God’s Kingdom
By William F. Holland Jr. September 2024
ter 7:7 about asking, seeking, and knocking until you know that you know. Some have been rebellious against God about their gifts be- cause of numerous excuses, and if we are focused more on accom- plishing our will than His desires the Bible declares He is not pleased with our disobedience. Let’s look at an interesting pas-
dug a hole in the ground and hid it. After a while the master re- turned and the first servant showed where he had invested the 5 talents and now had 10, the one with 2 talents now had 4. The master was very pleased with them both and said this was excellent! And since they were faithful in this assignment, he said to rejoice as
As a freelance
faith columnist and Christian au- thor, I’m honored to have the oppor- tunity to provide thoughts and
ideas to relay to others. I’m sure all Bible teachers and pastors feel they are God’s messengers. What I do is nothing more special than how millions of other Chris- tians serve Him, and I humbly acknowledge that most are more talented and effective. God’s people are important pieces of a large puzzle, stones in His wall, and a voice among many who rep- resent the One who created
he was going to make them ruler over many things. When the last servant stepped forward, he said he knew his lord was shrewd and seri- ous about busi- ness affairs, so being afraid, he buried the talent to keep it safe and then handed it to him. The master
everything and knows everything. Writing is one of my callings, yet my personal testimony includes that I did not always pursue this path. God truly works in mysteri- ous ways. Songwriting came to me through a spiritual experience when I was a young man. Then over time, I began to write articles, Bible studies, sermons, and even- tually newspaper and magazine contributions. I’m intentionally making a long story short, never- theless, writing is the first thing I think about when I awaken and in the evenings I have a pad and pen on the table next to my recliner to scribble down thoughts that often come to me. I share my journey about how the Lord is graciously using me, to ask if you have found your spiri- tual talent and if so, are you are accomplishing and multiplying it? Every Christian has been given a carefully designed calling for the purpose of bringing honor and glory to God. If you are not sure what it is, I encourage you to read what Jesus said in Matthew chap-
sage found in Matthew chapter 25 where Jesus is teaching the para- ble of the talents. In our study today I’m referring to talents as a gifted ability to serve the Lord in a special way, and in this story, a “talent” is an ancient unit of cur- rency, worth about 6,000 denar- ius. I believe it’s acceptable to say that both can be used to make our point about personal obedience and accountability. Historians say that one denarius was the average wage for a day’s labor, and a talent was worth 20 years of labor which is incredibly valuable. The story is about a wealthy man who was planning to travel to a distant land and told his servants to watch over his finances while he was gone. According to each man’s ability, one servant was given 5 talents, to another he gave 2 talents, and to the last one he gave 1. The servant with the 5 talents invested them and doubled their value. The man with 2 talents also doubled the amount, but the one who was given 1 talent became afraid that he would lose it, so he
was angry and called him lazy and wicked for not at least investing the money where it could gain in- terest. The master took the talent and gave it to the one who had 10, and ordered this person to be cast into outer darkness where there is pain and suffering. Do we recognize what Jesus was saying? If you are discouraged and have been neglecting your calling, God wants to help you accomplish what He has called you to do. Pray and fast until He reveals divine ap- pointments and provides the nec- essary anointing and favor. Read I Peter 2:5, and rejoice that God is shaping you into one of His pre- cious living stones. We know that ships are safe in the harbor, but this is not why ships were made. Dr. Holland lives in Central Ken- tucky where he is a Christian min- ister, author, and community chaplain. Read more about the Christian life at: BillyHollandMinistries.com
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