[The following devotional is a part of our 2015 Easter Season Devotional Book “Passion Road.” We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between February 18 – April 5, 2014.]
Serious Silver by Mark Robinson
Read: Matthew 25:14-30
How valuable is something that weighs 75 pounds? Well, it depends on what that “something” is made of, right? If it is a 75 pound block of pure gold, it is more valuable than if it is 75 pounds of trash from the local dump!
In Jesus’s day, the word “talent” referred to something that weighed about 75 pounds. As it referred to wealth, most “talents” were made of silver or gold. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells a parable about a wealthy landowner who gave his servants several talents to invest. It is assumed that these were talents of silver, making them very valuable. Each talent of silver would have been worth about 16.5 years worth of wages. The wealthy landowner gave one servant 5 talents, another 2 talents, and finally another only 1 talent. To translate that to our modern vernacular, let’s assume that a year’s wage is $50,000. That means the master gave the servants $4.125 million, $1.65 million, and $825,000 respectively. That is some serious silver!
In the parable, the landowner entrusts this wealth to the servants and leaves for a long journey. After an extended time away, the landowner returns, and visits each of the servants expecting to receive back the talents (plus profit) that the servants had managed. Those who managed the money well, received back commendation, blessing, and increased opportunity. Those who did not manage the talents well experienced a loss of reward.
Jesus tells this parable to illustrate the point He made earlier in His sermon (back in Matthew 24:45-46.) This sermon was delivered by Jesus to do two things: predict His return to the earth one day, and prepare His followers for what they needed to be doing while they waited for His return. In Matthew 24:45, Jesus says that He wants to find “faithful” servants when He returns. What does it mean to be faithful? The answer to that question is found in the parable of the talents you read today.
If you are reading this today and you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, know that Jesus has given you 75 or more pounds of blessing. These blessing are especially valuable because they are not made from silver or gold which will never leave this earth, but are made with an imperishable combination of eternal blessings and divine opportunity. Your gifts, skills, education, money, relationships, and opportunities are entrusted to you by Jesus Himself in this interim period between our rebirth in Christ and His second coming. One day, you will have to give an account for how you stewarded your “talents” in this life. When Jesus returns, will you be found faithful?
Questions:
- What are the “talents” that Jesus has given you in life?
- What would it look like for you to be a good steward over your talents this week?
Prayer:
- Pray for God to give you eyes to see opportunities to invest your talents in His work this week.