Parable of the Talents

On Wednesday March 34th, I spoke at our RCC mid-week devo. We did a discovery bible study over Matthew 25:14-30 known as the parable of the talents. As we talked our way through the parable, we saw how Jesus taught that we are to use the blessings we are given by God to bring glory and honor to Him. We also learned from the parable that our feelings for “the master” will be shown in our actions. The lazy servant only thought about what would happen to him, so he did not work to increase for the master. The good servants thought about the master, so they used what they were given to bring increase to the master.

To re-enforce the concepts from this parable, we did a practical real life exercise. Each person received a 300 baht gift from God. The instructions were to use the money to bring an increase for God. We had 2 weeks before we had to come back give a report. So, on April 7th, we met again to share what we have done. I person used the money to buy a typing program. He then used that to earn 500 baht from a co-worker. He turned 300 to 500 then used that money to help a project in Prachinburi. The next project was done by a group of people. They put their money together to build shelves of the 1st floor of RCC. They then bought several English/Thai books telling different bible stories and a manga bible. They then put the books on display on the shelves so visitors to RCC could read and learn more about God. Another group pooled their money to start a project in Prachinburi. They used some of the money to help with the new English outreach program for this new church planted in a small village about 2 hours outside of Bangkok. The rest of their money went to starting a garden that would provide vegetables to sell in the market to help fund outreach projects of this congregation. Another person used the money to help a friend that was out of money and had not eaten for almost 2 days. The last group pooled their money together to start a healing ministry in the Ram area. This ministry will reach out to people in the community to help meet there needs (food, education, medical help, clothing, etc.).

As we shared about our projects, we talked about the different feelings we had about this money compared to our money we have every day. Many felt more pressure to make the right decision about what to do with these funds. As we talked, we saw that everything we receive is a blessing from God and should be treated with the same respect and dedication whether it is the blessing of money or knowledge or abilities, talents, or physical strength. God blesses all of us according to our abilities and we should use all to bring him increase.