Investing our abilities into God’s kingdom

By William F. Holland Jr.

DD., C.ED.D.

As a freelance faith columnist and Christian author, I’m honored to have the opportunity 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 Christians 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 represent the one who created 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 mysterious 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 eventually newspaper and magazine contributions. I’m intentionally making a long story short, nevertheless, 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 spiritual talent and if 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 chapter 7:7 about asking, seeking, and knocking until you know that you know. Some have been rebellious against God about their gifts because of numerous excuses, and if we are focused more on accomplishing our will than His desires the Bible declares He is not pleased with our disobedience.

Let’s look at an interesting passage found in Matthew chapter 25 where Jesus is teaching the parable 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 currency, worth about 6,000 denarius. 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 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 dug a hole in the ground and hid it. After a while the master returned 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 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 serious about business affairs, so being afraid he buried the talent to keep it safe and then handed it to him. The master was angry and called him lazy and wicked for not at least investing the money where it could gain interest. 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 appointments and provides the necessary anointing and favor. Read I Peter 2:5, and rejoice that God is shaping you into one of His precious living stones. We know that ships are safe in the harbor, but this is not why ships were made.

Dr. Holland is a licensed and ordained minister, chaplain, and Christian author. You can read more about the Christian life at billyhollandministries.com.