HOW DID YOU DO ON LAST YEAR’S “RESOLUTION ” ?
I sure many of you are like me, and glad to see 2021 come to a close. This has been a year of exasperation, frustration, separation, and desperation. Many of our friends and families have contracted Covid, pneumonia or bronchus, but thankfully we have come out on the other side safe and sound. Others have not fared as well, as we have lost friends and acquaintances.
What did you promise yourself this second year of Covid? Did you promise to stay in touch with loved ones more than you have in the past? Did you promise to use all the time you have had working from home to further your education? Maybe you just promised yourself to get in better shape, improve your eating habits and lose weight? How many goals did you hit? How many did you forget about the second week or month into the New Year?
One of the parables in the Bible that I like is the parable of the talents. It is found in Matthew 25:14 – 30. It’s about a rich man who delegates the management of his money to his servants while he goes on an extended trip to another country. The first servant received five talents, (which is a large sum of money), to the second servant he gave two talents and to the third he gave one talent. Each one was given the number of talents according to his ability.
The rich man returned to find the first servant had doubled the amount of money he was given. “Well done thou good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a few things I will make thee ruler over many things. The second servant doubled his money also. Again, the rich man praised the servant for being good, and faithful and awarded him favor, for doing a good job. But the third servant buried the talent in the ground, because he was afraid. The third servant presented the talent that he had wrapped in a napkin and buried,and said that he had kept it safe for his master because he didn’t want to fail and lose the money. The rich man was very angry because even if he had put the money in the bank, he would have earned interest on it. This servant was admonished and cast into outer darkness.
The last servant was punished for not using the talent wisely. In those days, talents referred to money, but today it indicates the ability or gifts we receive in life. We will either be rewarded or punished on how we used these gifts. We will find every excuse in the book for not using the talent given us. Like the servant we have become afraid of being in public, with family and friends, and therefore hiding ourselves away instead of using our talents to the best of our ability. The moral of this parable is that we use whatever talents we have received to the best of our ability, and when we do that, we are on an equal footing with other faithful trustworthy servants of God.
As parents we need to encourage our children to use the talents they have received from God. Encourage them to practice the piano, singing or drawing so they can do the best they can. Of course, the best way of doing that is by example, by sticking to goals you have set for yourself, and using whatever talent God has blessed you with, regardless of your health, wealth or age.
We writers tend to be procrastinators. We put off finishing a book because we are afraid of the final product not being good enough. We are afraid we won’t get approval from our piers. We need to be more determined to do our best and let the pieces fall where they may.
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalms 100: 2-4
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matthew 25:23
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7