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Talents for Everyone, October 10
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country,
who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another
one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway
took his journey.
Matthew 25:14, 15
.
God has not given talents to merely a chosen few, but to everyone
He has committed some peculiar gift to be used in His service. Many to
whom the Lord has given precious talents have refused to employ them
for the advancement of the kingdom of God; nevertheless, they are under
obligation to God for their use of His gifts. Everyone, whether serving
God or pleasing himself, is a possessor of some trust, whose proper use
will bring glory to God and whose perverted use will rob the Giver....
The human family is composed of responsible moral agents, and from
the highest and most gifted to the lowest and most obscure, all are invested
with the goods of heaven. Time is an entrusted gift of God, and is to be
diligently employed in the service of Christ. Influence is a gift of God,
and is to be exerted for the forwarding of the highest, noblest purposes....
Intellect is an entrusted talent. Sympathy and affection are talents to be
sacredly guarded and improved, that we may render service to Him whose
purchased possession we are.
All that we are or can be belongs to God. Education, discipline, and
skill in every line should be used for Him. The capital is His, and the im-
provement is the usury that rightfully belongs to the Master. Whether the
amount entrusted is large or small, the Lord requires that His householders
do their best. It is not the amount entrusted or the improvement made
that brings to men the approbation of Heaven, but it is the faithfulness,
the loyalty to God, the loving service rendered, that brings the divine
benediction, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into
the joy of thy lord.”
Verse 23
. This reward of joy does not wait until our
entrance into the city of God, but the faithful servant has a foretaste of it
even in this life.
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