Are you hiding your talent from God, under the guise of protecting it? Are you using your talent but not like you should be? Or are you finding your talents increased, because you are using them to build God’s kingdom?

I don’t want to take it for granted that everyone knows the story of the parable of talents, so if you don’t know the story, it can be found here. It’s only 16 verses long, and it is well worth your three minutes of time.

The gist of the story is this: don’t waste what the Lord gives you.

The Lord bestows talents on us in many forms:

cooking/baking

sewing

the ability to do physical labor

music

writing

reading

drawing

teaching

cleaning

gardening

money management

and so forth and so on : )

Some of those may not sound like a talent to you, but if you are called according to God’s purpose, then all things work together for good. Romans 8:18

You can develop a ministry out of any one of those things. Someone somewhere is unable to clean their home, cook their dinner, plant a flower. Someone somewhere is unable to read a book, maybe because their eyesight has faded. Maybe they need help learning how to read. Someone somewhere would love to dress more modestly, but they need help learning how to sew. Just visiting with people can be a ministry. There are a lot of lonely people out there. I could go on, but, then again, you probably have your own thoughtful juices flowing at this point.

Richele from Under the Golden Apple Tree posted on my wall yesterday these words: “You are so talented.” And that really got me thinking about the parable of talents. I can honestly say that my talents have increased, since I have been serving the Lord whole-heartedly. I want to do great works for His glory, and, most often, this is done by doing a bunch of little things.

Personally, I would rather go work on the mission field than donate the money for someone else to go. But that’s just me. For me, I get a blessing out of sweating in service to others. It makes me feel good to look at something tangible that I helped accomplish for God’s kingdom.

There is a saying: Some give by going, and others go by giving. So whether you are giving of your time or of your money or both, THANK YOU!

I know that if I ever cease to increase in my talents, then I need to get my heart checked. God wants to bless those who are blessing His kingdom! When I struggle on the piano or with a drawing or with a blog post, I just remind myself to relax and open my mind up with the question, “What is God trying to teach me here? I know that He wants me to succeed, so I know my efforts will be blessed as soon as I learn the lesson at hand.”

Do you have a talent you have been hiding?

Present yourself a living sacrifice, and lay your all on the altar.

God will honor His word, and bless your offering.