Matthew 25:14-18
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” …
Some people might disagree, but I don’t think there has been a more naturally gifted athlete in the last 50 years than Bo Jackson. You remember, “Bo knows…” football and baseball and running and swimming and tennis and on and on. He was bigger, faster and stronger than everyone else on the field and may have played his way into the hall of fame in both football and baseball had he not broken his hip in a freak injury caused most likely by his own prodigious strength. Bo Jackson could do it all on the field. He was a five bags of gold kind of athlete, blessed with a heaping measure of God-given talent.
Most of us, if we’re honest, are more like the servants who received two bags or one bag of gold. And that’s okay. Jesus’ story is not about celebrating those rare individuals born with extraordinary talents, whether in sports or academics or personal charisma. God created you the way you are, special and unique in your own special ways. God wanted someone like you, with just the right set of gifts and abilities to be part of your family, to know your friends, to worship in your church, and to live in your community. One bag of gold servants matter to God just as much as those rare five baggers.
The question Jesus’ story raises is what are you going to do with the gifts God has given you? Will you work hard, using your God-given talents for his glory? Will you invest what God has entrusted to you to help build his kingdom? Or, like the third servant, will you dig a hole and hide in it? Some people don’t serve God as fruitfully as they could because they don’t think they have much to offer. Sadly, the church often acts like the world by lifting up the loudest, strongest and most successful people, leaving others to feel unworthy and unwanted. Don’t fall for that deception. God needs you, and his kingdom can only flourish when each of us puts to good use the gifts He has given.
Father, thank You for creating me with the ability to love You and to serve You. Show me how I can use my talents for Your glory, and help me to encourage others to serve You too, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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Pastor Mike Mirakian
