I was away for the day for a meeting in KL. Upon my return in the evening, I was dismayed to find a half eaten burger on the living room table. Joseph, my cheeky one, was still munching his fries from lunch! Pre-empting my negative response and attempting to deflect it, Clare gave me a friendly smile and asked if I had watched Home Alone 3 as it was then showing on TV! “This is such a funny show mum, you must come and watch!” she said.
The living room was in a mess. The food had gone stale. Struggling to put on a smile (as I did miss them dearly), I was telling them how disappointed I was to see the place left in a mess. Before I spent the next hour lecturing them as I normally would have done, I felt God telling me that its time to teach them something from the bible since I had the perfect setting!
“Tonight, I have a great story to tell you!” I said, trying to sound enthusiastic rather than annoyed. Quickly, I turned to the parable of talents and read through:-
“Again, it (the kingdom of heaven) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master 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!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master 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!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 24.
As I related the story to them, Clare was quick to point out that she had heard it before. As the parable unfold, I realised that God was speaking to both the kids and me. As much as I had been away and expected the kids to behave in my absence, I was reminded that God had invested His words in me and expected me to allow His words to change me. If I were to ignore His teachings, I would eventually lose out on the life that He had called me to lead.
“You might think that I am away and both you and Joe could do whatever that you wanted with no restrain, but you are wrong. God is actually testing you, to see if you would behave in my absence. If you do, then He will trust you with greater responsibility; If you don’t, then you might have to relearn the lesson again.” I explained in a manner as simple as I could.
Thank you God for teaching both my children and I on the valuable lesson behind the parable of talents. Although we may apply this differently, all of us are in need of you and your words to change us for the better.
Hi Fee,
ReplyDeleteApt application. I like the part you said, “If you don’t, then you might have to relearn the lesson again.” Recently I commented on a US pastor’s blog entry when he wrote about failure (in ministry), and I wrote about how unlike Singapore’s National Service (NS), where there is ROD (run-out-date), the date one finishes his service, all believers are enlisted into the army of God upon entering into salvation, and there is no ROD – Work till no end! When we failed, God continues to work on us, and we have to continue to work at it, like you said it, “you might have to relearn the lesson again”. So, concerning failure, I wrote we are to do our best, and that includes being responsible, at each assignment, in God’s army, and leave failure to God. If demoted, how? We have all the time in the world, we have no ROD. Just work again to be promoted again.
One of the reasons we forgive is because God forgives us. In like-vein, we are to exercise long-suffering towards our children even as our Father God is doing the same with us. Parenting is not that easy; but Father God is facing the same with us, His children.
Indeed, there are ways to apply this Parable. This came to me, not that I like it, for I am perhaps lacking in it, and it is this: You and I, each is given 1 eternal life potential, and we are being placed in settings where other lives can be saved. And so, for the Parable, one was given 5 eternal life potentials, including his own; and he doubled it. Another was given 2, and he too, doubled it. The lazy one, and he was said to be wicked (perhaps, for taking the grace of God for granted), he did “nothing” with the life given him. What did the Master do? The lazy one was called a worthless servant; we can also say he is a worthless soldier. And so, there is such thing as a worthless believer, if he bears no fruit. What will happen to him? Where is this “outside” place he will be thrown to, a place of darkness, where weeping and gnashing of teeth will take place?
If the “talent” is substituted with “eternal life potential”, what did the Master take away from the lazy one. This Parable points to the need for us to serve the Lord or work for Him or bear fruit for Him in some way. The Parable of the Goats and the Sheep points to the same. Jesus cursed the fig tree that bore no fruit, and Bible has the story of how a barren tree, given sufficient time to bear fruit, but would not, would be chopped down. There is indeed a need for believers to bear fruit for the Lord, especially, in contributing to the Great Commission. I am not necessarily saying that you must do a one-to-one witnessing, although that would be good, it is that we have to contribute in some way (not necessarily in money) to the salvation of others. May I encourage you to serve the Lord in some way, even as you understand that the Word of God is to transform lives, both of your loved ones and yourself.