Are You Using Your Talent Wisely?
I certainly haven’t. When I think of my God-given talents, the word “squandered” comes to mind.
The first time I read the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 I thought it is about investing wisely, and avoiding hording/fearful behaviors, which, on the surface and among other things, it is.
As a newbie Christian, I understand that I am still in the “milk” phase of my spiritual maturity, and maybe, MAYBE, ready for some soft foods, but certainly not “meat." As such, I also understand there are many layers to the scriptures. The old adage ‘meat for men and milk for babies’ springs to mind.
Pastor Jack Hibbs has a fantastic YouTube channel with a wonderful library of sermons. One day last week I was watching a sermon and he said, ‘you’ve been given “talents” too, and one day you’ll have to stand before God and give an account of why you didn’t use them to glorify Him.’ (I wish I could find the video, but can’t, so I’m paraphrasing to give you the meaning I took from this.)
The moment he spoke, I broke-out in goosebumps. He was talking to me, and I knew it.
I’m a writer, a craftsman with words, and yet, I’ve published very little. If I applied myself consistently, I have the capacity to be a highly compensated writer, but I don’t. I wrote in obscurity for decades as a scientific technical writer, even got a BA in Creative Writing, and largely wasted the talent He gave me on writing pithy Facebook statuses back when I actually used social media. In fact, I haven’t written anything for a few years now, and never used my talent to glorify God, for sure!
The thought of standing before Jesus to give an account of why I wasted His gift is a chilling call to action, and one I cannot bear to think about.
Before God, I vow to write at least one blog post per day Monday-Friday for one month.
Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. ~Ecclesiastes 5:5
The goal is twofold:
Develop spiritual muscle
Create a new habit
I don’t want to make a “for the rest of my life” vow, when Ecclesiastes makes it clear that I shouldn’t bite off more than I can chew at one time, but I do want to walk a spiritual path that honors my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s goodness and grace, I do enjoy the discipline of setting a goal and reaching it, I do want to use my “talent” to magnify and glorify God, and I can do anything for 30 days.
My intention is to expand the 30 days into 60, then 90, then eventually a year, as my spiritual and writing muscles develop, but I’m taking this one bite at a time.
