14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou 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.22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.23 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.24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25:14-30
Today’s text is such an important teaching of Jesus to help us understand how God views us and our resources. There are 3 key words that help us to understand this text.
Ownership– The “man traveling into a far country” represents God. He gives to his servants (us) what talents (our resources, talents, and time, everything we have). He is the owner of what they have. They belong to him, and what they have belongs to him.
Responsibility– The 3 servants in the text have a short amount of time to use the resources they were given to increase the resources and estate of their master. Some of them took their responsibility seriously and worked hard with what they were given. Another one took the easy way out, and didn’t take their responsibility seriously.
Accountability– The servants didn’t know when their master would be back, but He did come back! They answered for what they did and what they did not do, and they were rewarded or punished based on what they did with their masters resources.
Application:
God is the owner of everything you have and are. He has given you the responsibility to manage what you have been given. One day you will be held accountable for what you do with what you’ve been given. What kind of servant are you?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
Well I think that I’m a responsible servent and when something important is given to me to see what I would do with it, I would take it seriously because someone trust me and I don’t want to take the easy way out and screw it up well I would like to take the easy way out and consider it but thats not always the best idea it’s a risk I’m not taking I’m a responsible person I like to think hehe.
What i learned in this message is that we need to be accountable, responsible, and we need to take ownership. I am accountable because my mom trust me to watch my brother before and after school. I am responsible because i can watch him without causing trouble and keeping the house nice and clean. Last but not least i take ownership by doing this for my mom while she is at work.
What I got out of this is God gives us things and we can neither use them for God and work for God or we can be like the servant who din’t take responsibility and he was punished for it. I was at one point not using my talents for God but as I grow in God more I have been using them.
I think it is one thing to be a servant to the Lord, but what is my attitude while serving? I think some times we can by busy about the Lord’s work, but maybe not having the best heart about it. I think we need to make sure we are serving with a joyful heart. Doing, doing, doing, and being overly busy doesn’t necessarily impress God. It is how we are serving Him that does. I think I have fallen into this trap before. Doing things because there was a need but not necessarily doing it with the right attitude. Are we trying to please God or man?
OMG!!!!! 😮 it finally works! ahaha xD still… I’m a responsible loyal servant, cuz I always still to my ground when it’s hard and people could be pressuring u into things.. But I’m like is this he good thing? Or the best? So thts how I make my decisions. And I’m gonna start doing the 3 piggy bank thing tht Pastor Ben said he was teaching to Melana. And I thought tht it’s a great idea.. So I have 3 bowls.. One giving… One spending… And One saving. I think tht will help me control my money.. I mean it’s not like I just go out and spend every penny I have at once.. No I don’t. When I get it I just spend the majority. And hate how I do tht.. So I thinks it a great Idea! 🙂
Great Devo! 🙂
Love u guys!!!! 🙂 ❤ :p
I’ve been reminded a lot lately, that I need to be a better manager of everything I’ve been given. There’s a saying that I always have to keep in my head, because I tend to make it a mistake. “One thing you can’t make up is lost time.” This is so true! I kick myself everytime I am determine to do something but let something else get in the way. On Sunday night, Corey was talking about how even if we added another hour to everyday to make each day 25 hours, we probably wouldn’t use it effectively. God made each day 24 hours for a reason. We need to learn how to manage what He’s given us. I need to be a better steward and stop worrying so much about the things that matter here on earth but those that matter one day in heaven. I need to have better ownership in what God’s given me, use it responsibly, and when God’s told me to do something, I need to be accountable for my actions. This is something I really need to work on. I let too much get in the way of what really matters sometimes, and that’s a problem.
I think we sometimes are ok at one of the areas of giving, time, or talent. For me I was taught at an early age that the money I had wasn’t truly mine and everytime I babysat and then eventually had a job I was able to give back the portion that I knew was supposed to go back to God. But I have always had trouble with my time and still do. I have trouble making sure I am managing my time properly. I get distracted and the unimportant things in life carry me away at times. I am putting things in my life that will help along the way to manage the area I am not so great with. I want to be called faithful and have made God proud with what He has given to me.
The other part of this parable is that not everyone can handle the talents and treasures that others get. We aren’t supposed to compare what we have been given a stewardship over to what others have been given. Just like the 3 different servants who were all given different amounts they were held accountable for what they were given and what they did. Some have more talents and others might have more time or money but we are all going to stand before God and be held accountable. Being faithful with what you have been given and God will give you more to be a steward over. What an amazing honor that is as well as a huge responsibility.
I’ve read this parable so many times, but I still get something new out of it every time I read it!
This could be taken in a couple different ways.. The talents could represent what we do with our money, time, or actual talents. I’ll be honest, I’m not a very steward of any of those things. But this month, learning about stewardship, I really want to change that. I want to be able to manage what God has blessed me with, because it’s all about Him. And I want to be able to stand before God and know that I was a good steward, I don’t want God to be disappointed!
So far this month I’ve learned about stewardship & how everything we have belongs to God. I know in my heart that I don’t give everything I can to God & it’s so selfish of me.. I barely can give Him 10 minutes by reading my bible everyday. I still don’t know my talents.. Honestly I feel like I can’t give as much as I’d like. I get so nervous talking to my friends about God.. Why? God’s the best thing I’ll ever recieve & have in my life!! I just wish I was a better steward to God. As of now, I’m not sure how great of a servant i am. I wanna get to Heaven and be the person with 5 talents, who used them for God, not myself. I want God to be proud of the work I’ve done here on Earth. He could come back any day & I wanna do everything possible for God!
To be honest I am not that great of a steward but I want to be! Sometimes I feel like God hasn’t given me anything or that everyone has the better version, but I need to not.think like that because God gave me what he gave me for a reason! I haven’t really figured it out yet but.I’m getting there(: I still haven’t really figured out my talents.. anyways, I want to find my talents and.then use them to the best of my abilities to serve God and be a good steward of what he has given me(: I want to be able to go to heaven and stand before God and just be like “look what i did God, you gave me next to nothing and I did.all of this for you!” That would be amazing, it would be really dissappointing if I wasted my whole life doing nothing for God and just caring about myself.. trying to.get the next new thing to look “cool” and just stocking up on temporary things on.this earth. It would.be pointless because none of.this lasts forever but things in heaven do!
Great comments on here today guys. I love watching you guys grow… Keep it up!