Let’s continue our study of Matthew 24-25 by looking at the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:14-30. In our previous visit we saw that to be ready for that day, which could be any day or crisis, or more specifically, the Day of the Lord, you need to be saved and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you.
In the parable of the talents the point Jesus makes is we need to be diligent about using our talent or talents for the Lord until He returns or we are called to appear before Him. The parable makes it clear that God doesn’t expect more from you than what He’s given you assets or abilities to accomplish.
To both the servant given 5 talents and the one given 2 talents God was satisfied with each of them doubling what they were given. For the one given one talent it is implied God would have been delighted if he had doubled it. In fact He indicates He would have been satisfied if he had merely put it in the bank and drawn interest. God is not a hard taskmaster, but He does expect us to be diligent in using what has been entrusted to us.
Notice how Jesus describes the response of both the one given 5 talents and the one given two talents. Jesus said, they “went at once” and put their money to work. They were diligent in making the most of all the time they had.
The one who received one talent “went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” Not surprisingly his irresponsible actions and attitude were exposed when he gave an accounting to the master.
Diligence in using what you’ve been given is important to God.
