Who do you owe your talent to?
I want to tell you a story. There was once a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. Each slaved owed different amounts to the king, and he decided to begin collecting on those debts.
A man then came up to the king who owed the king 10,000 talents. It was an astronomical number. There was no way this man could pay this debt. The king, understanding this, said to sell the man to regain some of the talents owed him. The slave fell to the ground before the king, BEGGING the king to spare him from being sold. He promised to raise the money to pay off his debt, knowing that it wasn't possible. The king, seeing this, had compassion for his slave and not only forgave him of his debt, but freed him as well.
This story is actually one taught by Jesus in Matthew 18 about forgiveness, but I also believe He shows us something else as well. I'd like you to take note of two things.
1.) At this point in history, when you were a slave and owed a "talent" to someone, you actually owed 20 years worth of wages to that person. So you would work an appointed time paying off your debt. This person owed the king (God) 10,000 talents. That is 200,000 years worth of wages! Yet the king was filled with compassion!
2.) The man was already a slave, so why was it so bad to be sold to another master? The slave loved the king! He didn't want another master of his life, he wanted to continually work for whom he served.
The story goes on to say that the freed-slave failed to show the same love, compassion and forgiveness to others as the king (God) had shown him, and thus he was tortured and forced to work off his debt.
So what can we learn here? No matter where we are in our relationship with God, whether we have failed Him and owe Him 10 talents or 10,000, He is there to pick us up. Serving the king takes faith. It takes faith that He will forgive our debts, it takes faith that He will understand where we are, and it takes faith that He will not lose patience and throw us away. We serve a good God.
Lets just make sure we follow His example, and maybe then we will (and those around us) discover the only real talent that matters. Jesus Christ
~Deuce
12/7/2013
I want to tell you a story. There was once a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. Each slaved owed different amounts to the king, and he decided to begin collecting on those debts.
A man then came up to the king who owed the king 10,000 talents. It was an astronomical number. There was no way this man could pay this debt. The king, understanding this, said to sell the man to regain some of the talents owed him. The slave fell to the ground before the king, BEGGING the king to spare him from being sold. He promised to raise the money to pay off his debt, knowing that it wasn't possible. The king, seeing this, had compassion for his slave and not only forgave him of his debt, but freed him as well.
This story is actually one taught by Jesus in Matthew 18 about forgiveness, but I also believe He shows us something else as well. I'd like you to take note of two things.
1.) At this point in history, when you were a slave and owed a "talent" to someone, you actually owed 20 years worth of wages to that person. So you would work an appointed time paying off your debt. This person owed the king (God) 10,000 talents. That is 200,000 years worth of wages! Yet the king was filled with compassion!
2.) The man was already a slave, so why was it so bad to be sold to another master? The slave loved the king! He didn't want another master of his life, he wanted to continually work for whom he served.
The story goes on to say that the freed-slave failed to show the same love, compassion and forgiveness to others as the king (God) had shown him, and thus he was tortured and forced to work off his debt.
So what can we learn here? No matter where we are in our relationship with God, whether we have failed Him and owe Him 10 talents or 10,000, He is there to pick us up. Serving the king takes faith. It takes faith that He will forgive our debts, it takes faith that He will understand where we are, and it takes faith that He will not lose patience and throw us away. We serve a good God.
Lets just make sure we follow His example, and maybe then we will (and those around us) discover the only real talent that matters. Jesus Christ
~Deuce
12/7/2013