Tim Downs stood at the podium in his two piece suit, delivering a stone-cold truth that will change my life forever. "The man with one talent went and hid his in the ground... his master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant..."
The parable of the talents, found in Matthew 25, is familiar to most of us, but I doubt that many have ever looked at it the way Tim taught it.
The Master intended his servants to invest their talents.
Now we all know that the scripture is referring to talent as money, but as Tim pointed out, the word talent is a double entendre (meant to be understood in two ways). The talent also refers to our lives.
Each man took what the Master gave them and invested. All accept the man with the one. He hid his and when the Master returned, he had this to say of the man who refused to invest: 'You wicked, lazy servant!(Matthew 25:26)
Tim reminded us that, "There is no failing when you invest. None that invested his talents were put to shame. The one that didn't was the evil one!"
So here's the thing. You know that writing talent that you've been wondering whether you should do anything with or not? Let me spell it out in plain English for you. DO SOMETHING WITH IT!
God is not going to put you to shame for trying or even trying and failing. You will, however, be put to shame if you do nothing. So come on, do something. Write for your church bulletin. Write notes of encouragement to your friends or enemies for that matter. Start that short story or novel or how about a non-fiction book on how to serve God or perhaps an article? The method does not matter, just pick up a pen and write something. Then share it.
Oh come on now, you didn't think the Lord would just have you write something and then bury it, did you? That's what the evil servant did. If you don't share it then it's not investing it.
Think about this for a bit. That humility you think you have inside you, the one that says, "Oh no, I'm not good enough." is really pride rearing its ugly head. Don't fall for it. If God can use the mouth of a donkey, He can use you and me just fine. So come on.
I want to hear from you. How have you stepped out? I'm looking forward to hearing from you. And remember... you CAN do it!
ginger
1 comment:
The parable of the talents is one of my favorites. I come back to it time and time again in my life - and particularly in relation to my writing. Glad to hear everyone had such a wonderful time at the conference!
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