Invest in your talents

Bottom line: God needs your talent for the advancement of His kingdom.

Teaching

We daily encounter men and women with great potentials and talents given to them by the Lord. Some people are gifted in craftwork, others in music, others in creating designs that no one ever thought about, and the list continues. This makes us unique individuals.

God gave us these talents for the work of the ministry. He expects us to nurture them until they become mature, then use them for the advancement of his kingdom.

A lot of Christians fail to grow their talents. They pay little or no attention to it. As such, it eventually dries out and neither they nor the kingdom of God benefit from it. Such was the case of one of the three servants in the parable of the Talents, recounted by Jesus:

¹⁴ For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

¹⁵ And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 

Matthew 25:14-15 (KJV)

The Bible recounts that while the first two servants multiplied their talents, the third servant buried his and produced no benefits from it. Eventually, the master who gave them the talents came back and was very displeased with the servant who buried his talent.

²⁶ His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

²⁷ Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

 ²⁸ Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

²⁹ For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

³⁰ And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

Matthew 25:26-30 (KJV)

Jesus used this parable to illustrate what happens in the kingdom of God when we refuse to be productive with the talents that God has given us.

God expects us to grow our gifts and use them to promote his kingdom. If you are gifted in painting, take a professional painting course, if you are gifted in singing, take professional singing lessons because you must serve the kingdom of God with your talent, and God needs the best from you, and nothing less.

We can see an example of this in our opening scripture:

¹⁰ And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;

¹¹ The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,

¹² The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,

¹³ The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread, 

Exodus 35:10-13 (KJV)

God almighty instructed Moses that the Tabernacle of Meeting should be made where His presence shall dwell among the people. He gave specifics on the tabernacle and its furnishing. And finally, he assigned specific men with talents in craft work to do the job.

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

² See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

³ And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

⁴ To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

⁵ And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

⁶ And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded 

Exodus 31:1-6 (KJV)

You may not be anointed to hold a microphone in the presence of a crowd of 10,000 people to preach, but surely, God has blessed you with talents that you can nurture and use in his house for His glory. Nurture your talents today and bring gain to God’s kingdom.

Further Study

• James 1:17 [Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.]

Reflection

• What talents do you have?
• Do you invest in yourself enough to become excellent in your area of gifting?
• Do you use your gift in the house of God (Church) and for the service of the kingdom?

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank you for blessing me with special abilities. I declare that today, I am growing in my area of gifting, and I am applying it for the expansion of your kingdom in Jesus’s name.