The word talents comes from an ancient measurement of money.  One talent was considered a very large amount, roughly equal to the value of twenty years of work by an ordinary person. In “The Parable of the Talents” (Mathew 25: 13-30) Jesus speaks of a master who is going on a long journey and divides a large portion of his wealth between three servants according to their abilities.  The first receives five talents, the second receives two talents and the third receives just one talent.  What the three servants do with their talents is the focus of the story.  The first two work hard and double their talents while the third hides his away and does nothing.

Each of us is given “talents” in life.  What we do with these talents is the focus of our life story.  Like the servants in the story we do not know when the Master will return.  I am not talking about the “end of the world” or Armageddon but the time when our individual lives are over here on earth and we stand before judgement in Heaven.  For each of us it will be at a different time.  Whether we were bestowed with “5 talents” or “1 talent” we will lay before our Master the fruits of our labors for Him to judge.

It breaks my heart when I see a talented individual who has so much to offer the world who instead lets the “world” overpower them and falls prey to alcohol, drugs and other worldly vices.  We all know of the long list of entertainers who have fallen to the wayside for this reason.  The entertainment business does not hold the corner on this market so to speak.  Athletes who who could have served as a role model for others have fallen prey as well.  God gave them the ability to shine like a star in the sky, a beacon to His Word.  They forgot who gave them this talent and in a sense worship other “gods”.  In this way their talents were wasted.  God gave them the talents to serve Him.  They followed the wrong path and thus lost their talents or hid them away with nothing to show their Master.

You do not have to be an entertainment star or a professional athlete to fit into this category.  Parents entrusted with God’s ultimate gift of a child need to use their own talents to lead, guide, and mold their children to be  the best individuals they can be:  employees need to do their job each and every day to the best of their ability; artists or writers need to use their talents to create works of art or literature; to do otherwise is a waste of God given talent.

Have you invested your talents wisely?  Even if you have only one talent, are you using it in the best way possible to increase the Master’s fold?

Talent, still a measurement of a person’s life.  How are you using yours?