First Talent
Matthew 6:31-33 NKJ
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall
we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the
Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all
these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Ephesians 5:15-17 AMP
Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose,
and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the
unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], making
the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking
advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and
diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil. Therefore do not be
foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will
of the Lord is.
KEY PHRASE: “MAKING THE VERY MOST OF YOUR TIME ON
EARTH…”
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NLT
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in
the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.
Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to
shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are
powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things
despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used
them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a
result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
Matthew 25:14-30 NKJ
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country,
who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to
one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each
according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them,
and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two
gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in
the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of
those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had
received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying,
‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more
talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and
faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you
ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who
had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me
two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 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 your lord.’ Then he who had received the one
talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping
where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not
scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the
ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered
and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap
where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at
my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten
talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have
abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will
be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer
darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
PRINCIPLE: WHAT YOU MAKE OUT OF LIFE IS NOT
DETERMINED BY WHAT YOU HAVE, BUT BY WHAT YOU DO
WITH WHAT YOU HAVE!
Four Observations:
- We’re not all given the same amount of talents.
- God holds us accountable for the talents we are given.
- If you use your talent correctly it will multiply.
- If you don’t use your talent you will lose your talent.
Principles to Increase Your Life Impact:
- Recognize your life belongs to God.
Romans 12:1-2 MSG
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your
everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and
walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for
him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it
without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be
changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from
you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always
dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out
of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. - Use your talent to serve others.
Matthew 20:26-28 NKJ
“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become
great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be
first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for
many.”
Romans 12:3-8 NKJ
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among
you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to
think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For
as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not
have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ,
and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing
according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: If
prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us
use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts,
in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with
diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. - Be faithful over your seed of ability.
Matthew 13:31-32 NKJ
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of
heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his
field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it
is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the
air come and nest in its branches.”
Luke 16:10 NKJ
“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who
is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” - Set your goal to be a hundredfold Christian.
Matthew 13:23 NKJ
“But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the
word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some
a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”