You are simply amazing! Wherever you are today, no matter what you feel about yourself at this moment, you are just amazing. Formed in your mother’s womb by our Father in Heaven, and created to do wonderful things! God does not make mistakes, and no matter what you believe, have been told or convinced of, it does not add up to what God thinks of you! He set the value of your life, there is a price tag on you and it is this:
YOU ARE WORTH THE LIFE OF JESUS! YOU WERE WORTH IT FOR HIM TO DIE ON THAT CROSS. JESUS HAD YOU IN MIND!
We have extreme value because of our Creator. It may be hard to say this about yourself, maybe it feels weird to hear someone else write such nice things about you, but the fact of the matter is this is utterly true. You are amazing, creative, unique and wonderful!
How does that feel? Are you encouraged? I hope so! What is even better is how true this is, I am not making it up! We have been blessed with so much and God calls us to great things.
I was doing my devotional reading this week and came across the parable of the talents, found in Matthew 25 and Luke 19. I, probably like you, have read these passages and heard this story before. But God highlighted some things I felt compelled to share with you.
Because we are so amazing and awesome, we have a responsibility to produce, create and inspire. In these passages, a master gave money to 3 of his servants, different amounts according to their ability, and asked for them to “do business with this until I come back.” (Luke 19:13)
Before I delve into this more, I want to give some reference to the amount of a talent. A “talent” was roughly worth 20 years of a laborers wage. Yes, years is correct there. If the wage of a laborer was $35,000, take that times 20 and you get $700,000 per talent. Just a frame of reference for you.
As the story goes, the one given 5 talents produced 5 more, the one given 2 produces 2 more. But the servant given one talent acted in fear and buried his talent to not lose what was given to him. How often do we view our salvation like this servant? We hold on so tight to the assurance of our salvation and heaven so we end up doing very little, or nothing, with it?
This last servant was found to be wicked, lazy and worthless. Hard words for a person who didn’t lose the money given to him, right? But it’s not the point of the story.
Fear wrecked this man. Laziness allowed him to sit idly by. Because nothing was created by what he was given, he was worthless to the master.
As I stand writing this today, I realize this may have taken a hard turn from understanding how amazing and awesome we are, to criticizing the man in a parable who hid money. But like I said earlier, because we are awesome and amazing, we have a responsibility. A responsibility to create, reproduce and grow.
Maintaining does not please God. Water which remains stagnant and doesn’t move is undrinkable and unusable.
What is the “talent” God has given you? What are you doing with your talent? When the master returns, how is he going to react to what you have created with your life, salvation and ministry? Will His words be, “well done, good and faithful servant.”? Or will it be different?
Listen, you are amazing and awesome (have I said that enough?) and God has creatively and purposefully created you. He didn’t create to maintain, He created to multiply! He wants His Kingdom to grow! He wants people to come to know His love and grace! And He has commissioned us to be the boots on the ground.
Ask yourself, “what am I doing with my talent”? Am I creating more? Am I producing something pleasing to God? Or am I hiding it? Burying my talent and living in fear?
Matthew 25:23 – “His Lord said to him, ‘Well done good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of the Lord.”
