We started this blog series with 2 Timothy 2:21 (NKJV) which says, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” The NIV uses the words “instruments for special purposes” in the place of vessel of honor. As Christ followers, that is what we are seeking to be—vessels for honor or instruments for a special purpose, the purpose for which God created us.

Because God is the one who designed us, created us, assigns us tasks, and equips us for those tasks, He has every right to hold us accountable. We can’t say, “I wasn’t able to” because He makes us able as we follow Him in obedience.

Our job is to believe and obey Him; His job is to produce the results. In the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25, a talent represents the ways God has equipped us and the spiritual gifts He has given us. 

The master gave his servants talents (money) to use while he was gone to a foreign land. One received one talent, another two, and another five. This was determined by the servants’ abilities. For us, God determines how much He gives according to the way He plans to use us and the tasks He assigns to us. 

When the master returned, each servant had to give an account of what they had done with their master’s money. The servants who received five talents and the one who received two used the talents their master gave them to earn more money for their master. The one who had received five, earned five additional talents. The one who received two, earned two. To both the Master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21,23, NKJV).

 Then the master came to the servant who had been given one talent. This servant had been too afraid to risk losing the master’s money, so he had dug a hole and buried the talent in the dirt. When the master returned, he had nothing to give the master except the original talent. The master said to him, “You wicked and lazy servant, … you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers” (Matthew 25:26-27, NKJV).

Each of us has been given an amazing amount of talent from God. Maybe you feel like the servant who only received 1 talent. That’s okay – a talent is a large amount. One talent equals approximately twenty years’ wages[i]. It would equal somewhere between $400,000 up to $1.2 million. Another way to measure talents is that a talent is the largest Biblical weight, which equals 75 pounds[ii]. So, if you think you only have one talent, picture yourself carrying a large block of gold or silver weighing over 75 pounds!

Are you using the gifts God has given you? None of us is without talent. God has fully equipped each of us to complete the task. He will hold us accountable for how we use these talents. Do you want to hear, “You wicked and lazy servant,” or “Well done, good and faithful servant?” It’s our choice.

Notice that the master didn’t judge each servant on how much he made with the money, but on the fact that he tried. In God’s economy, we never have to worry about running out of resources.  If we obey the commands He gives us, He will multiply as He sees fit. We are accountable for our obedience, not the results.

God will help you do the good works He assigns; we simply have to be obedient. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13, NKJV). He will do it.

We are His vessels. God created, chose, called, and equipped us to glorify Him. Will you surrender to Him and be obedient to whatever He calls you to do? 

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work (2 Timothy 2:21, NKJV).

What is one talent God has given to you?

Are you using it to serve God?

Where God has placed you?

Are you allowing God to work through you in that area?

[i] Charles L. Quarles, Notes on Matthew, Holman Study Bible (NKJV, Jeremy Howard, Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Bible Publishers, 2015), 1644.

[ii] https://www.gotquestions.org/biblical-weights-and-measures.html