And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents,

saying, Lord thou deliveredst unto me five talents:

behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. Matthew 25:20

 

      This is from a parable Jesus is using to describe the kingdom of heaven. Seems there’s this guy with an undisclosed amount of land and number of servants who is preparing for a long journey. Before he leaves interactions with three of the servants are recorded. He gave them each a different amount of money and takes off.

      I don’t know about you but I’ve never been given any amount of money without some direction. If it’s to pay bills the admonishment is usually to use it for bills and don’t get into debt again. If it’s in a birthday card the greeting will say, ‘buy something you like.’ When I was a child and went shopping for my mother I was told I could keep the coin change but she expected the bills and receipt when I got home.

        So when the guy comes back he expects a report of what was done with his money. The first man had the original amount of money and had doubled it. I can imagine he very willingly stepped forward and said, ‘Sir even in this economy with the DOW fluctuating I was able to make you money.’ He made sure to emphasize beside. I can see him grinning. Man number two had a similar reaction. Man number three was probably wishing he could crawl into that hole he had hidden the money in.

       When Christ returns what joy it will be to say, What you gave me was invested well and reaped a harvest. That could be money, ability, skills and talents used in service to the Lord.