Parable of the Bags of Gold, Matt 25:14-30

It is interesting that the NIV, which I quote from most frequently calls this the Parable of the Bags of Gold and not the traditional name, Parable of the Talents. But that is neither here nor there.

Each of the servants is given, entrusted with, the master’s goods, whether it be money or ‘talents’. Each of us, when we become His, is endowed with gifts to carry out the master’s work. I bet some are given an abundance of gifts and others fewer. But, the point is that the master trusts each and every one of us to carry out His work and will give it to us as He sees we are able.

Who are we to question that ability when he is the one who has just entrusted us with it? Who are we to hide away and not utilize that which we are given? The servant who had been entrusted one bag did nothing with it, because he was afraid.

Are you afraid? I have been rather afraid of starting this blog; putting myself out there on the web for all criticism and for all to read or shun at will. It is hard. But, I could not ignore the bag on my shoulders. I had to do something with it. It has taken a long while to get started and it started and stopped but, it has been a constant pressure, prodding me to do this. I’m still ready to flinch at the first sign of offending someone. But, I won’t let that stop me from carrying on in what has been entrusted to me. Hopefully, a community will grow from this and we can support one another in the struggles of following Christ. He never said it would be easy.

Do you have a vision or recurrent sense of what you should or could be doing for Him? Maybe it is time to get involved at church after just attending for so long. Maybe it is going out and finding a job after having raised your kids for the last few years. What is stopping you? Is it fear?

We are in good company with this fear. Moses was afraid and fled the country after killing an Egyptian. David was afraid of Saul and fled to live among the Philistines. Naomi was afraid she could not care for herself or her daughters-in-law. Each of them lived in fear for a time. I read today that David’s time living in Gath (yep, where Goliath was from) that he did not write any psalms. It was perhaps a desolate spiritual time, or he felt far from God.

Letting fear take over stops us from living. Live is growth, functional activity and change preceding death (Oxford Dictionaries). We don’t live when fear has caused us to stop following God’s will or intention for us. I want to grow and produce fruit and change in Him, so I choose to set the fear aside and go on. In my case, I have made a commitment and posted it: ‘thrice weekly comments and verses’; that is what you find on my Facebook page. I’ve made it public and, in Him, I will carry it out. No Fear!

Back to the parable. I don’t know if I have one bag, 5 or 10 bags of gold that our Lord has given me. I just want to plug into Him with an open heart and follow what he says ‘til the end.