This little piggy cried wee...wee...wee

Now the parable we looked at when we started this little piggy adventure was about money, but we are going to do a little play on words. When we think of a talent we rarely think of money. Instead, when we hear the word talent our thoughts turn to a person’s abilities.

Like playing the guitar or singing. Some are natural born athletes, they can run faster, jump higher, and they are stronger. All you have to do is watch the Olympics to see this is true. Some have a head for business. They understand money and people and goals. And some of us have the talent of getting into trouble.

We are all born with talents and natural abilities. Some people have very noticeable talents, like my wife Jenn, she can take some chicken, a little bit of rice and a few other ingredients and make a dish that some would kill for. Some of us have talents that aren’t so visible.

I realize that this passage is not talking about our physical talents or abilities, but that does not mean we should not use them in the right way. They are still given by God and He expects us to be good stewards of them.

We have been given these talents and abilities to benefit ourselves, to bring profit in our lives. But at the same time we need to remember where they came from. We did not give them to ourselves. They came from God. Because of that, their use in our lives should bring glory to God.

There is another set of gifts we have been given. These aren’t natural gifts but are spiritual gifts. Anyone who belongs to the family of God has at least one of them. You can read a list of them in Romans 12:4-8.

Just as we are to be good stewards of our natural abilities and talents, we are to be good stewards of these spiritual gifts as well.

Let me make a few parallels between the parable from Matthew 25:14-30 and Paul’s writings in Romans.

1. All people receive a “gift” but not all have the same function. In the parable, the servants were given an amount of money but each amount was different, in fact it says based on their ability.

2. The talents were given to form one body. They were to be used for the good of the whole, not the individual. The talents were given to increase the wealth of the master, not for personal use.

3. The gifts were to be used in the right manner. Matthew’s point was not how much was made but that gift was used. The Master even told the third servant it would have been better if he had put it in the bank to draw interest. Our gifts and talents have been given to us to work, they are to be used to serve others.

We should be good and wise stewards of our talents.