If anyone asked me what my new year’s resolutions are this past week, my answer was probably, “I don’t do resolutions.” I haven’t done New Year’s resolutions for the past 5 years or so, because honestly, who am I kiddin? I don’t get to tick a single thing off those lists and even though I consider myself an optimist, I do jump into the realist wagon once in a while.
This is what I decided to do instead: take one day at a time. Make everyday a chance to change and get my resolutions from the preaching of the word. So this past year, during a certain sermon, I decided I would attend each and every church service and I am glad to say I have ticked that off (apart from a certain service that still bugs me to this day) but all in all, I have tried my very best to be in all 3 services of the week, even if I have a class that ends so late that requires me to run just to get to church in time and I have seen the benefits of doing this.
This year, my ‘resolution’ has come around earlier than I expected and it came during the amazing service we had last Sunday. We read about the Master who left talents with his servants according to their ability (Mattew 25:14-30) and came back for them and the one that was given five talents, made five more; he that had two talents, made two more. But the one that received one talent went and hid his talent, and basically made 0 profits from it. What happened when the master came back? He rewarded the two that made a return from the original talents, and the one who dug and hid his talent was thrown out into darkness and had the one talent he was given taken away from him. I have never seen this parable explained better than in this sermon. It was an eye opener for me to be honest.
This is what I have learnt: God wants 100% from us; the men with five and two talents did not make 80% or 60% profit, but 100%! And God cares about the extra that you do with the talent(s) he gave us. Some of us have been given humble responsibilities in the body of Christ, for example, a church member. Just because it seems like little work to do, we actually look down upon it, and hide the talent we have been given. I had a conversation with my friend Martha the day before, and we talked about how we Christians are the most judgmental people there is when we are actually supposed to be the opposite. We Christians are actually known for being so judgmental. How shameful! Oh how we should break away from such a shameful habit! All it does is bring shame to God’s name. He never ever taught us to look down on other people; in fact, when Jesus was here on earth, he spent time with sinners, these were people the people of that day looked down on.
So God gave you the talent of salvation, let’s say, and what did you do with your salvation? Dig the ground, as deep as you can, and hide that talent; no one should touch it! We can’t even testify of God’s grace to someone else, but all we do is judge them, “look at their dressing! How can a woman leave her house in such a state?” (I am guilty of this, I won’t even lie and may God forgive me). We forget that underneath that ‘outer state’ is a human being too, in need of love, with feelings that can also be hurt. And we walk with our heads high because we have done what God has asked us to do; we don’t steal, commit fornication or adultery, we attend each church service (meeee!), wear floor sweeping skirts and we think we’re all good, we are going to heaven. Some of us say we don’t testify because we use the “we are written epistles read of all men” logic, therefore, “I will let my life testify to them and eventually, that will bring a soul to Christ”. But some of us have the worst epistles to be read, the way we live our lives doesn’t even reflect the message we claim to believe in. My God! This really pierced me. When it’s all said and done, and you are giving God back the talent of Salvation he gave you with 0% profit, 0 souls called to the Gospel but a gazillion judgments passed in a single day and just a reminder, what happened to this man who had dug the earth and hid the talent given to him? Thrown into utter darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. And God will not spare one with the same behavior in this age, because we know he is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
I am not very good at the keyboard/organ, but I do know a thing or two and so I have the responsibility of playing in church. And this past year, I completely slacked off and if you asked me, I would tell you I don’t even remember the last time I played. It’s been over 5 months or so, it’s so embarrassing because at the end of the year when we all have to renew our mandates, I even forgot I have such a responsibility and someone had to remind me. During the sermon, I kept thinking back to the 0 extra miles I had taken; actually, just 0 miles I had taken in the past year, in this office I claim to work in. I felt so sorry for myself to be honest. It was too embarrassing! I was asked to teach a certain girl some chords and to prepare her to start playing in church, and I didn’t even make the effort to arrange practise days with her. I am that man with one talent and truthfully speaking, in 2014, I hid my talent instead of making a trading on it.
So here I am, in 2015, my shovel in hand, I am off to dig out that one talent God gave me that I have been hiding, and I will trade with it till I make 110% profit from it. I will go the extra mile; I will make sure I do so before my Master comes and asks to see what I did with it. This is the year I sacrifice to God’s work. And come to think of it, some things I asked God for and it seemed like he had just shut me off, could be because I didn’t seek the kingdom of God first, and how dare I expect “all these other things to be added unto me” when I hadn’t even sought his kingdom first! May God have mercy upon us. May 2015 be a fresh start and may you think deeply about the talent God gave you and may you ponder on why you have not made 100% return from it. May this be a turning point, to take the Lord’s work more seriously and go the extra mile so that you can proudly present your 100% profit when the Master returns.
Happy New Year! Have a profitable 2015!
–“There’s no difference in none of us. We’re all sinners saved by grace. And one’s not above the other one: just one’s given something, and he’ll have to answer for what he done with what talent was given to him. That’s right. Every person has to answer for that.” -William Branham, “What is a Vision” 56-0408Aved