Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: OVERLOAD (10/06/16)
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TITLE: Not An Unreasonable Master | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jennifer Liang
10/13/16 -
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Matthew 25:25 “. . . so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” ESV
“So I was afraid . . .” Afraid of what? Afraid of his master? Afraid of being wrong? The third servant must have seen what the first and second servants were doing. All three obviously had years of working side by side to impress their master at his return. The first two were busy working hard doubling their investment for the master. What was the third busy doing? Digging a hole in the ground and then, nothing.
From what we know of the master we know that he was not an unreasonable man. Verse 15 even says “ . . . to each according to his ability.” That means that the master was well aware of how much each of his servants could handle. He gave five talents to the first, because he knew he could handle five. He gave two talents to the second, because he knew he was trustworthy enough. But when we get to the man with the one talent we learn that not only did he not do it right but he also tried to make excuses for his behavior. He didn’t like being overloaded with responsibility and tried to pass it off as no big deal. Here master, you have what is yours, so please leave me alone, was what he could have been saying.
Our master (Jesus) knows us better than we know ourselves and will never overburden us with more than we can carry. What HE gives me may not look like what he gives my mentor, and that is well and good. I would be overloaded if I had the five talents she is supposed to carry. It is not the point to compare ourselves to others in our responsibilities, but to do well with what we have been given. We don’t read any complaints from the second servant that he only had two (compared to the five for the first servant). Both the first and the second doubled their master’s property and received the same reward.
Although the third did not lose anything, he did not gain anything either, and in the process lost it all. His one talent was given to the ten talent servant! Fear of being overburdened brought the last servant to the dark side of his master. I imagine that was probably not what he was expecting when he buried the talent.
In conclusion, it would do us all well to remember that comparing ourselves and our responsibilities to others will not help anyone. Our master will give more responsibility to some and less to others. Are we going to double HIS investment or let fear stop us from doing anything?
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We should examine ourselves each day to see if we are using this TALENT (whatever it may be) to benefit our Master (Jesus).
I liked the reminder. It had the flavor of a devotional.