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The verse in the image reminds me of the parable of the talents. A man goes on a trip and leaves his property in the hands of his three servants. Each one receives a different amount of money according to their capacity; the first receives five talents, the second two, and the third only one. So while his lord was far away, the first two servants put the money to work and managed to duplicate it. The third servant, however, decided that it was safest for him to hide his lord's money burying it somewhere.
After a long time the lord returned and called the three servants to his presence. The first servant came bringing ten talents instead of five, so he received a few slaps of approval and a promotion to a position of greater responsibility and rank. The same happened to the second servant, who arrived bringing four talents instead of two. Then the third servant showed up with his only talent in hand. The lord looked at him with anger, took his money away, and threw him to the street.
I must accept that this story seemed somewhat unfair to me in the beginning; after all, the third servant was the least capable, and the one who received the least money. His lord might have known him very well and expected a similar reaction. However, I find at least five reasons why the servant deserved his punishment:
1. The patron of the story was asking for his money.
2. The third servant was given the same opportunity as the other two to demonstrate his business skills.
3. The amount received by each servant was in accordance with his administration capacity and the expectations of his master were also (see 27)
4. The third servant was brutally offensive and showed a wrong attitude (v. 24)
5. His main motivation for hiding the money was fear and not love or fidelity (v. 25)
Let's go back now to the verse in the image. Jesus told his disciples: "You are the light of the world" (v. 14) "You are the oriental oil lamp lighting a dark night of a Jewish family in the first century" (paraphrasing a bit here) "but no lamp is meant to be under a drawer, a lamp is only meant to be on a lamp stand. A lamp does not meet objective solely by being a lamp, it needs to be placed on a high shelf and light the whole house."(v. 15).
You are right, dear friend, I am not going to apply this parable to you step by step, as to a small child out of elementary school. You have probably done that by now. There is a few questions I've been asking myself:
1. What has God entrusted to me? (To start, He's given me 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a soul, a spirit, a body, a family, a handful of skills and good ideas, a profession, a job, a salary every two weeks: everything is his!)
2. What am I doing with the opportunities coming to my life (or those waiting to be found?)
3. Am I aware that God expects me to be a good administrator of everything I have received according to my ability? (This is important)
4. What is my attitude towards God and in relation to everything he has given me?
5. What is my motivation to do what I am doing ?
I just want to tell you this: Dig up your talent! A buried talent fulfills no objective other than a lamp under a drawer. Think about it and do as I am trying to do. Now, put your lamp on a stand!
