God has uniquely blessed each of us with talents and gifts—some with many, others with few. Yet it’s remarkably easy to take these blessings for granted, forgetting they’re not truly ours but entrusted to us for a purpose.

At the end of our lives, we will stand before God and give an account of how we stewarded what He placed in our hands during our time on Earth.

Jesus makes this truth crystal clear through His parables in Matthew 25. While the chapter contains three powerful parables, the Parable of the Talents (or the Parable of the Bags of Gold) speaks most directly to this question: “What will you do with what I gave you?”

Matthew 25:14-18

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

In this parable, Jesus is the master and we are the servants. Each servant receives a different amount, but notice—the master’s response isn’t based on the amount given, but on what each servant does with it.

Matthew 25:20-27

The First Servant

The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

The Second Servant

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

Notice the identical praise. The servant with two bags receives the same commendation as the one with five. The amount doesn’t matter—faithfulness does.

The Third Servant

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.’”

Reflection

As followers of Christ, we’re called to invest what we’ve been given into something greater than ourselves. This doesn’t always mean grand gestures—sometimes it’s the small acts that matter most:

  • Buying coffee for the person behind you in line
  • Volunteering at a local shelter
  • Using your professional skills to serve others
  • Sharing your time with someone who needs encouragement
  • Investing your resources in Kingdom work

Here’s the truth: If you’re reading this, you’ve been blessed with more than you deserve. You have talents, opportunities, resources, and time that God has entrusted to you.

The question isn’t how much you’ve been given—it’s what you’re doing with it.

When Jesus returns, we won’t be judged on the size of our talents but on the faithfulness of our stewardship. Don’t bury your blessings in the ground out of fear or complacency. Take action. Give back. Multiply what you’ve been given.

Jesus is coming back. What will you have to show Him?