Invest in the kingdom of Heaven

Hey Ya'll longtime no see lol. I know I haven't posted in a while and I apologize, I've been very busy. The other day I was reading a parable in Matthew, and it really spoke to me. It was Jesus telling the Parable of the Loaned Money.

Not all of you may know about the parable but it's about this man who entrusted his servants with his wealth. The wealthy man gave bags of gold to his servants based on their abilities. The one man received five bags of gold and went to put the money to work, and he gained five more bags. Another man was given two bags of gold and gained two more bags. The last man was given one bag of gold and dug a whole and hid his master's money.

When the servants came back, the master was pleased with the two servants who brought back twice the amount they started with.

" His Master replied, " Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" - Matthew 25:21

The master was not pleased with the last man who gave him back the buried gold. The servant's excuse was he was afraid.

" 'Master', he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have no scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' " - Matthew 25:24-25

The Master was still not pleased and saw him as lazy and wicked. The master told him to give the bag to the one with ten.

"' So, take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" - Matthew 25:28- 30

We may look at the servant and think of how horrible he was but how many times do we do the same? The bags of gold represent any kind of resource we are given. God gives us time, gifts, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until he returns. We are responsible for using well what God has given us. It's not about how much we have but of how we use what we have.

We are to use out time, talents, and treasures diligently in order to serve God completely in whatever we do. Now how can we do this? I remember a time where I wasn't on praise team and just going to church. I was scared to join because everyone would be able to hear me but then I remembered that God gave me a gift and being scared isn't a good excuse not to do it. So, I decided to invest my talents for God. I also decided I don't have to just sing but I can also do this in other ways by doing my daily work out of love for God. After doing this I saw God multiply and move in ways I didn't think were possible.

We must not make excuses to avoid doing what God calls us to do. Our time, abilities, and money aren't ours in the first place- we are caretakers, not owners. Now that might make you mad, saying that our time, abilities and money aren't ours but it's true and you need to realize that. So, if you can sing, sing for him, if you can write, write for him, if you can paint, paint for him, if you have an able body, work and serve for him, if you have money, put some towards him. We need to start investing our time, talents and money into serving God first before we invest anywhere else. Invest in the kingdom of heaven and like Nike says, " Just do it", don't let that fear avoid serving God and him showing what can come out of that.