Leviticus 6-7 Matthew 25:1-30

“Then the servant who had been given one bag of gold came to the master and said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. So I was afraid and went and hid your money in the ground. Here is your bag of gold.’” (Matthew 25:24-25 NCV)

This passage comes from an interesting, and perhaps disturbing, parable. Jesus tells the story of a man who gave three of his servants money to take care of. One servant got 5 bags of gold (we’re used to talents being used here), another servant got two bags, and the third only got one bag. The first and the second servant double their master’s money, while the third one hid it to avoid losing any of it. He called the master hard to his face as an excuse for not doing anything with the money. Obviously, the master wasn’t happy with that, took the money from that servant, and gave it to the one who already had ten bags of gold.

I have a hard time with this parable. Why did one guy get 5 bags of gold (talents – which would be worth a minimum of $50,000 today, probably more) and another guy get two bags? We can see that the master understood the character of the third guy, because his actions showed he couldn’t be trusted. Perhaps the guy with two bags was just learning. While money is the vehicle in this parable, I believe that this speaks more about our relationship with Him. Those who trust and love Him will work willingly and take appropriate risks to see the kingdom grow. Those who see God from a legalistic perspective, or who don’t believe at all couldn’t care less about seeing God’s kingdom grow. They won’t risk anything, including their reputation, to see God’s kingdom grow. Where do you fall? Would you risk everything to serve God or are you so afraid that He’ll punish you for doing wrong, that you don’t do anything? Trust God and serve Him. It’s worth any risk.

Lord, help me to leave my safe zones and be willing to follow You and take risks to show others Your love and grace.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.