Use it or Lose It: What has God given you?

Use it or Lose It: What has God given you?    Kelly Durant.  1-29-23

Matthew 25:14-33

2. Many people set new goals for their life when a new year starts. Here at the Corps some do it with the case worker. Everyone should have goals and, if not you will be failing God making yourself an unwise steward of your life. If you are not having life happen as you plan it, if God isn’t getting His fair share of you, then who or what is getting in the way? Most always it is your own stubborn self to blame! Do you want blessings for hard work, then get busy! There is a lot to do! 

Notice that we all praise the honeybee for his busy work, but we hate the mosquito! The busy-ness you choose must be prayed over, planned and counseled about, and then executed. You don’t want to waste time and energy you can never get back! Many people choose the wrong activities and disregarding God’s will, they hurt others, and anger God.  

God keeps you and me out of trouble this way, ha! But King David, and anyone with too much leisure time may get into mischief! As Christians we must always be serving, studying, working and being productive in all good things!

3 Some people, however, would love to use your or my time to take them shopping all day or do errands for them! I wish we could spend more time with each other but if you and I do not plan our priorities for the day, we’ll lose all our time in the little the errands of everyone else and not get anything done that we should do! 

It is time to evaluate where your time, talent, and treasure are being spent and determine if you are dedicating enough of it to God or not. He is the judge, not me, but my role is to inspire you to use what you have for Him, or as in this parable of today, warn you of the consequences of not using what you have for God! All I want is for the Lord to tell you what you need to do to come into His joy!

4 In the parable of the talents, we can compare this to our lives. Think of it this way, some people may have 5 abilities while others may have one or two. Some people are excellent with math and money while others are average with it, some people are good with people for good relations and sales, or some people have a musical or artistic ability or sports talent. Everyone has the ability to do something, and everyone is needed!

The talents Jesus referred to were literally pieces of money. But in this parable the lending of the money implied a time value to it for an investment yield, or to spend it to make more by buying and selling, a work value of using your brain and talents to produce something worthwhile. 

God is expecting that you apply what you have naturally been given to make it better and more productive, and most importantly giving a return back to Him who gave it you. 

5 The modern problem we have today in the community is that people are not applying their time, talent, and treasure into things that are useful for God and they are wasting away. In the world some people are content to let the government support them all day to watch TV or sit around playing games on the computer and they do not care at all to progress to develop their selves, work or do anything at all because they don’t see the need to. These people have no goals, no ambition, and no future! The poor ‘we have with us always’, and some are poor due to a lack of the production of anything!

And some people who work so hard at things that will never be of any use to anyone, like the kid who plays video games 7 hours a day and they asked him, “How are you going to make a living at playing a video game that will be outdated in 5 years?” There is no response because it is all wasted time! Or from texting, or social media, maybe only 1 out of 1,000 people can make a living from that!

As in the parable of people who do not use their time, talent, and treasure to produce something for God, they always justify their laziness and self-created limitations, after all they are the victim that no one understands, and they want us to feel sorry for them for being so miserable when it is their own fault their situation!

6. In various Corps we have managed basketball, soccer, and afterschool programs and summer camps. To know what to do we should ask questions and then just listen. If you have not learned to listen to people, you will miss learning life lessons on how to progress in things for the benefit of yourself and others. The question in my mind was, what makes so many be willing to sweat in over high degree heat 10 hours a day, and often all summer long, to do a something that is not making them very rich really?

One of our coach friends explained this to us, that he had a supervisor’s job for several years and he just sat at a desk all day and often worked long hours, and he was making $18 the hour. But he was discontent since he had studied 4 years sports training and physical-therapy and he was not applying himself in what he loved to do. So, he took a cut in pay in order to do what he loves and apply his talent. 

He didn’t worry for the money; it made him feel good to work with kids, it was his show, his passion, his satisfaction, and he was finally able to do what he wanted to. Before we had 120 families involved and it became successful after 3 years of hard work! Our Corps gyms got used and not wasting away! 

7. I wish people would come to serve Jesus with this same passion being willing to sweat all day to preach the gospel! Only people with a passion for Jesus pass the test to gain a position of leadership in God’s service. All good things require sacrifice!

Our coach friend also expressed he even expected us to tell these families about Jesus because he shared that he as a kid he had played basketball in our gym and he recalled that the Captain then always shared a devotional about Jesus. Don’t you and I feel like giving respect to those who respect us and respect our Lord?

So, in order to gain something, you have to be willing to give up something! The man with the one talent buried it. Imagine, he was not willing to let it go and take the risk to apply it so he lost what was not his but could have been his if he would have been more willing to work, invest, and use his brains! But investing pays!

8. Not using your body, your mind, your talent, your money, and your time for God is a sin and crime against God and humanity! Some people serve in God’s work many hours a week, others a few hours, but most do not serve at all! In the end you are not the god of yourself to do as you please; you did not make yourself into being, you and I are God’s property out on loan! So, have you asked God in prayer yet, what you should do to win souls and how to help your community?

It was your mother that formed you into being by a miracle of God’s design and he brings everyone on this earth for a mission and a purpose; the problem is people are too lazy, too rebellious, and too selfish to do what God expects of them! Because people fail God, we have the world as it is! Can God be happy when we, his creation, disobey Him and even reject His Son! I heard a quote once that “people just want to find a comfortable spot and then “stay there until they die”. This sadly sums up the life of many people quite well and since people don’t include God in this life, sadly He will not be there after their soul moves. 

9. But the most dangerous place for a Christian is a comfortable place! When a person becomes so complacent with all the evil happening around them that they do not care anymore about the sin in the world and the exploitative abuses and extreme poverty and oppressions, and all the souls going to hell, then that person is like that one with the un-invested talent, useless to God! We are soldiers in a war on evil, so tell me about your plan of battle! God and all of us are expecting results!

A reality of life is the majority of people out of the billions that exist everywhere never leave their comfort zone, never leave far away from home to accomplish anything for God, for another, or for their own selves. The majority of people never even consider that they could live a life of adventure living out their passions. Only God can give you and me the vision of how glorious life can be if we will only put him first investing in Him, and most of all being faithful (‘til death)!

The problem is often people do count the costs or serving and after determining that it would come at a great sacrifice, then this person decides that they are incapable of making the investment required putting in all the hard work it. What a mistake to choose poorly!

10. No sacrifice for Jesus goes unrewarded.  Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 

It is sad too few people are willing to have the patience to store up their treasures in heaven, but what I have experienced is just what this verse states, you gain rewards in this life as well and I do not regret serving Jesus despite how it has cost me a few things like suffering a few thefts, getting hepatitis for 6 weeks, and having to move a few dozens of times with 4 little kids but I would not trade this life for nothing else! I have learned to love the ultra-poor and minister to the ultra-rich which is what Jesus did!  

With God you are never allowed to be motionless and unproductive as all things are in motion and like a train, you either get on it when He calls you or you get left behind! God is a God of movement, and He expects production and movement from us! 

11. You can’t allow yourself to become like a stagnant pool of water or you will become poisonous form the bacteria generated from no inflow and outflow. What kills people spiritually, morally, emotionally, and physically is the lack of movement; when a person does not take in and then give out.  

And the bad part too is when someone gives their time to God others those who are stagnant immediately criticize them like they are crazy to invest and spend energy in something that does not give them an immediate payback. 

We have a Salvation Army today because millions have invested in God’s work voluntarily and this is a proof that is God’s work that does store up eternal benefits. William Booth and his wife Catherine were willing to leave the stagnant Methodist church and they lived out their passion to help the people in absolute misery and addiction!   Will the Lord say to you…

12. Matt 25:21 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.

What are you planning on doing for God this year? God and everyone expects more from you. Have you even considered setting goals of doing more for God, in the church Corps and community? Today make a promise to God, and then keep it! You will be glad you did it when you are in heaven and your reward will be there for you!