The 10 Talent Man

We’ve been studying the Parable of the Talents in my High School/young adult class and have learned, correctly, that God assesses our ability and based on that assessment expects some kind of productivity out of us.

I asked my class that if God revealed to us what he thought of our individual abilities... how would that make us feel?

For instance, if God revealed to the whole class that we were all just one talent people what would be our response? Would we just respond by thinking… God knows everything and I am what I am or would we be so indignant at our own correctly assessed ability that we decide… I’m not going to be a one talent man… I’ll prove that I can be better?

What if God told everyone in the class that they were all five talent men what would our reaction bethen? We might be pretty happy and smug and maybe rest on our laurels.

If God told me that I was a five talent man I think that might motivate me to be even better. I might think I’m going to do so well they are going to have to write a new Parable about the 10, 5, 2 and 1 talent men.

You see, in John 15 we find out that God prunes his most productive people so we can be even more productive… that’s how a low talent man can be a higher talent man… by letting God prune him. And as one of the students pointed out this morning… pruning hurts the plant a little but it’s a pain that is soon forgotten, especially in comparison to the great joy we feel at pleasing God.

Let's be the best children of God that we can be and trust his process.