The sermon today was about how terrible it would be to miss out on the blessing after God has taken us so far. The “so far” being the trials, tribulations, and struggles you’ve overcome to prepare you for how God wants to bless you. He wants to bless you; He wants to see you make something from what He has given you. God doesn’t like it when things don’t produce – fruit trees or people. Before he even said it, it made me think about the bible story of the talents.
Three men were given talents, one, five, and ten talents were given, and the three men each did something different. One took the money and doubled it with investing; another made a small profit and the last was so afraid to do anything with his talent that he buried it in the ground and gave it back unused, unimproved. The illustration got me thinking about how insulting it must be to God when He has blessed us with some talent or many talents, and we don’t bother to take advantage of those gifts and instead let them waste away unused.
I was convicted. All gifts are created for His glory. If I have been blessed with some particular skill or ability, then I should be using it to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. My mother was both fearless and helpful, and she used those two gifts to such a degree that the church at her memorial service was pack full to overflowing with people she had touched. God has given me gifts, skills, and abilities but, have I made an impact? Have I proclaimed the gospel with my gifts? Have I produced fruit or made some profitable return on the Lord’s investment?
I know how pained I am when my children don’t appreciate something I have given them. The pain and anguish are overwhelming. The stress and frustration of seeing one of my children not use every benefit, opportunity, or talent he or she has to its utmost are agonizing. How much more deeply must God feel when we don’t use what He has given. Even worse, we don’t appreciate the gifts enough to at least praise Him with them. In an effort to avoid finding myself, covered in dirt from an unprofitable dug-up coin as I stand before God, I am going to find a way to use each and every single talent God has blessed me with and use them to praise Him.
Ahhhh the joy of opening presents!
[…] the back seat, or a forced break so that I could spend time with someone I loved before she died, God has provided for me. Thanks for Everything […]
[…] Years after we could afford a real tree and heavy ornaments – we still kept our handmade angel and ornaments as a testament to our blessings. The tradition of creating Christmas gifts and decorations continued year to year while the children were small, as did our dollar store excursions. The first few years, I would set aside twenty or so dollars to buy as many presents at the dollar store as I could and wrap them up, so the kids had the excitement of opening gifts and stocking stuffers. The tradition continued, and while we are blessed enough now to relegate dollar store items to the stockings only, it is an excellent reminder of how the important things in life aren’t things. […]