A wise teacher once gave a group of eager young students the following assignment. They were to find a small, unnoticed flower and study it for a long time. “Get a magnifying glass,” the teacher instructed, “and study the delicate veins in the leaves, and notice the nuances and shades of color. Turn the leaves slowly and look at their symmetry.”

When the students returned, they seemed to be bouncing with excitement. Each marveled at what he or she had seen and could not wait to tell the teacher. Finally after the students were seated, the deeper reason behind the assignment was unveiled. The teacher explained,

I want you to consider that your flower might have gone unnoticed and unappreciated if you had not found and admired it. But, consider this. You are like the flower. Each of you has been carefully crafted and uniquely made. You are a gift from God. Yet you will never appreciate the gift you are if you do not take time to stop and examine it.¹

No one is too old to be taught this lesson. You are a gift from God. But if you don’t take time to examine the gift God has given you, you will miss all the excitement, and God’s gift to you will have been wasted.

This is the lesson Jesus gives in Matthew 25:14-30. Through the story He tells, Jesus puts a magnifying glass in your hand and asks you to examine your life. He not only asks you to examine the gift He has given you, but He also asks you to look carefully at what you are doing with it.

… of Life

The examination begins in verses 14-18 as Jesus teaches that your very life is a gift from God. Jesus says,

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

It reads as though you are stepping into the middle of a conversation. The story opens in verse 14 with Jesus saying, “Again, it will be like…” In truth, you have merged into an ongoing conversation between Jesus and His disciples. It started in Matthew 24:3 when Jesus’ disciples asked Him to explain to them what the end times would be like.

With this story in Matthew 25, Jesus says that at the end times God will examine what you have done with the gift He has given you – the gift of life. This is understood when you read all of verse 14. Jesus says, “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.”

The plot of this story unfolds through the interaction between a man and his three servants. The Greek word for servant here refers to a slave or bondservant. In biblical times, there were various kinds and levels of bondservants. The service provided by some may have been more frequent than others. But, there was no mistake. They were all accountable to the master.

There will be atheists, agnostics and others who will say, “I don’t believe in Jesus Christ. I don’t belong to a church. Therefore, I am not accountable to God for what I do with my life.” Just because you say it and believe it, that doesn’t make it so. A bondservant in the day of Christ could have said, “I don’t believe in having a master. I don’t belong to that man.” But the laws under which he lived said otherwise, and he was bound by those laws. Even if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ and don’t belong to a church, you are under the law of God. Psalm 139 explains that in your mother’s womb, God gave you your life and even numbered your days. Thus, God will hold you accountable for what you have done with the gift of life He has given you.

… of Abilities

In verse 15, Jesus moves the magnifying glass in your hand to examine another aspect of the gift God has given you. God not only has given you the gift of life, but He has also gifted your life with specific abilities.

Though we are all equally loved by God (Galatians 3:28), we are also all uniquely made by God. God has gifted you with a combination of abilities unique to you. Jesus alludes to this truth in verse 15 of His story:

15 “To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.”

Each of the three servants had different abilities. The Greek word for “ability” in this verse is “dunamis.” It later becomes our English word for dynamite and describes a force or power. Each of these servants had different abilities or capabilities. Each would be held accountable for what they did with the God-given abilities they possessed.

Used or Unused?
Warren Wiersbe says it well; “What I am is God’s gift to me; what I do with it is my gift to Him.”² What you do with the life and abilities God has given you will indicate whether or not you appreciate the gift God has given you. In the final assessment of your life, God will know if the abilities He gave you were appreciated. He will know whether they were used or unused.

I have always been frustrated by those who fail to fulfill their God-given abilities. Physically, I was a late bloomer, which affected my passion to play football. My growth and strength did not come till my junior year of high school. That wasn’t the case for Jim Bob. By the eighth grade he was over six feet tall, weighed more than 200 pounds, and could run. Me, I was just a little taller than my 5 foot 2 inch mom, pudgy and slow. The game was given to Jim Bob, but I had to work just to make the team. In our tenth-grade year, however, Jim Bob quit football, and I had yet to bloom. I found myself saying, “God, why couldn’t you have given me his abilities? I would have used them and made the most of them.” If that is how I felt, think of how God felt. He gave the gift that went unused.

Obviously, not everyone is physically gifted to be a professional football player. But, everyone is uniquely gifted by God. Some are gifted in writing, singing or teaching. Others are gifted in organizing, caring or leading. You are gifted by God. By the way your gift is used or unused, God will know if you appreciate His gift.

Used or Misused?
God will also look to see if the gift He has given you has been used or misused. I read that after Rachel Kovac received her second speeding ticket, her mom and dad placed a bumper sticker on her car that read, “If I’m speeding, call my parents.” The sticker even provided their phone number.³

The car had been a gift from Rachel’s parents for her to use, but Rachel had been misusing it. So, now they are holding her accountable. I mentioned earlier that some who are gifted in writing, singing, teaching, organizing, caring and leading do not use these gifts. The other truth is that some who do use them, misuse them. It is not only that some seldom use their God-given abilities, but of those who do use them, some seldom use them in a way that benefits God. You use them at your work, but never give God credit. You may give God credit for your gifts, but never use them in His work.

It is God who has gifted you with unique abilities, and by the way you use or misuse them, God will know if you appreciate His gift. And, like Rachel’s parents, in the end times God will hold you accountable for the gift He has given you.

… of Resources and Responsibilities

Like turning a leaf over for a closer look, God now turns your life over for a closer examination. God does not want you to miss seeing the often overlooked resources and responsibilities that He has given you. This appears in verses 16-17,

16 “The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.” – Matthew 25:16-17

I know you read the word “money” in verse 16, but in the original language it’s not there. All you will find is the word “talents.” To be fair to the translators, talents were used as a form of money. You could have had five talents of gold, silver, or copper. “Talents” literally means “weighted.” It was the means they used at that time to place a value on what they had.

So, what “talents” has God given you? Psalm 24:1 attests that “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,” and James 1:17 affirms that “every good and perfect gift is from above.”So then, everything you have comes from God. Everything of value has been given to you by God and can be inventoried in two warehouses – the warehouse of personal resources and the warehouse of personal responsibilities.

Personal Resources
As you inventory your warehouse of personal resources, you need to take into account the money and materials God has given you. You also need to keep in mind that these are God’s resources in your warehouse. God is the owner and you are the manager. He provides the supplies and distribution orders that you are to fulfill.

Here is God’s supply and distribution plan. Malachi 3:10 says that God gives you enough money so you can give Him back 10% as an act of appreciation. The remaining 90% is to take care of your needs, to have something to give should others have a need, or if you want to give an extra offering to God. Furthermore, that 90% is to be used to purchase materials to meet the needs of your family.

Problems surface, however, when you begin thinking you are the owner, not the manager. When you think that it is your money and your materials because you earned it, you will want to hoard it for yourself instead of using it for God. When you think because you have earned it you have the right to choose how you spend it, you will also be tempted to spend it on “wants” instead of “needs” and in areas that benefit you instead of God. This historically leads to financial debt, which now means that what God has given you belongs to others. You are now managing it for them instead of for God.

To protect yourself form this danger, write Colossians 3:2 over the door to your warehouse of resources. Every day remind yourself to “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” This will help you remember that God is the owner and you are the manager of the resources He has given you.

Personal Responsibilities
The other warehouse you are to manage is your warehouse of personal responsibilities. Inside, you will find responsibilities to your friends and family, as well as responsibilities at work. And according to Ephesians 5-6, God expects you to manage all of them well;

• Ephesians 5:21-33 calls spouses to love and respect each other.
• Ephesians 6:1-3 charges children to honor and obey their parents.
• Ephesians 6:4 instructs parents to love and lead their children.
• Ephesians 6:5-9 tells employees and employers to serve each other at work as though they are working for Christ.

If it seems impossible to remember all of your responsibilities and to manage them well, then just remember God’s initial charge in Ephesians 5:1. In fact, you should probably write this above the door to your warehouse of personal responsibilities just as you wrote Colossians 3:2 above the door to your warehouse of personal resources. The command is, “Be imitators of God…” If you act like God in all your responsibilities, God will know you appreciate the responsibilities He has given you.

… of Time

With the abilities God has given you and the resources and responsibilities God has provided you, this next gift from God will be important to you – the gift of time; for you will feel there is not enough time to do everything well.

Such feelings are justified. USA Today asked experts to chart the time needed to accomplish the necessities of life. These necessities included exercise, hygiene, work and commuting, domestic chores and maintenance, eating, entertaining, spiritual development, sleep, family time and more. To do all this and do it well, the experts said you would need a forty-two-hour day.

My mother and her sister learned this lesson on their first cruise together. When shown all the activities offered, they discovered there were more activities than hours in the day. Furthermore, since they would be on this cruise for a limited number of days, they would have to decide what was most important and prioritize their time.

There are more activities and opportunities offered to you and your family than any time in history. You will not be able to do them all in a 42-hour day much less a 24-hour day. That is why, when God lists all your responsibilities in Ephesians 5-6, He also commands you in Ephesians 5:16 to redeem the time. “Redeeming the time” KJV was a marketplace term that referred to taking advantage of sales. God was saying that the days of your life and the hours in your days are limited. Therefore, you need to prioritize your time and make the most of each day – for everyone of us will experience Matthew 25:19, “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.”

… of Recognition

Remember, Jesus is telling this story to explain what will take place in the end times. In the end times, there will be a time when you settle your individual account with God. At that time, you will be recognized for what you have done with the life God has given you. For those like the two servants in Jesus’ story, the time of recognition is seen as another gift from God. Jesus describes it this way in verses 20-23;

20 “The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’”

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

Look at the gifts given to the two servants. First, they are commended for their attitude. Their master calls them “good and faithful.” Then, they are complimented for their accomplishments. Because of their faithfulness with little, their master now entrusts them with much. Finally, they are compensated with a celebration. Their master invites them to share in his happiness.

You don’t serve God for what you can get, but what you do get from Him makes the service worthwhile. God’s gift to you is to recognize you for the life and work you gave to Him – and what a gift it is to hear Him say, “Well done!”

Yet for you who bury the gift of life God has given you, the gift of God’s recognition becomes a curse as He recognizes the life you wasted. This is the experience of the servant with one talent in verses 24-30,

24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Compare the recognitions. The other servants are called good, but this one is called wicked. He has the gall to blame his master in verses 24-25 for expecting the impossible. He says it is the master’s fault that he did nothing with the gift. Furthermore, the other servants are called faithful, while this one is called lazy. The others are complimented for what they did while the one is condemned for doing nothing. Finally, the faithful servants enjoy the master’s rewards and celebration while the lazy servant experiences rejection and damnation. Why? The master is serious about the gifts he gives.

God is serious about the gift of life He has given you. Make no mistake; there will be a time when you stand before God and He recognizes what you have done or have failed to do with the life He has given you. Therefore, you need to stop and evaluate what you have done thus far with the life God has given you. Ask yourself these personal questions.

LOOKING AT MY LIFE:
Do I fully appreciate the abilities, resources, responsibilities
and time God has given me?

LOOKING AT MY LIFE:
Am I giving God my best with the life He has given me?

After a pastor had asked his people to pray and give toward a worthy cause, a woman handed him a check for $50 and asked if her gift was satisfactory. “If it represents you,” the pastor answered. Puzzled, she took back the check and returned two days later with a check for $5,000. “Now, is this satisfactory?” she pressed. Again, her pastor answered, “If it represents you.” Thinking for a moment, she grabbed her check and walked off. Later that week, she approached her pastor once more, but this time there was something different about her. With a humble grace she handed her pastor a check for $50,000 and said, “After much prayer, I now know that this gift does represent me, and I am happy to give it.”⁴

The life you have is a gift from God. Live it in such a way that at any time you can stand before God and say, “I know that this gift does represent me, and I am happy to give it.”

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[1] James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 485. This story from John Powell was adapted to fit the direction of the message.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe in his autobiography, Be Myself. Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 8.
[3] Raymond, McHenry, McHenry’s Stories for the Soul, (Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody, Massachusetts, 2001), 6.
[4] Hewett, 462.