While on earth, Jesus Christ used parables in explaining the Kingdom of God to the people. These parables usually went unexplained except to His disciples or a select few. Of all his parables, one stands out: the parable of the talents. It still affects mankind today! Parable of talent shows us that God had so much faith in us. He has laid out talents in everyone. But the question is, are we using it faithfully for God? What are we using our money, faith, energy, and our life? Are we using it for the glory of the Lord, or are we not using them? It is an important question that needs to be answered by all. Talents, according to the following parable, have to do with money. However, it is only God that sees the heart of man when given an opportunity to prove himself. God does not want more than you can give. He simply wants you to be faithful with what you have. How can we be faithful to God?

Since Jesus was referring to the Kingdom of God in the parable, we learn that our lives are not ours to live according to our wishes. We owe our lives and wealth to God! As Christians, we are waiting for the return of Jesus Christ to earth. We are like those stewards, faithfully using our master’s assets while waiting for His return. Jesus has commissioned us to reach the world with the Gospel till He returns. This includes using our talents to venture out into the unknown with faith. Our aim is to prosper the kingdom! Most of the time, however, we tend to look for excuses when the tide is rough. We forget that the Lord has given us talents fit for the work! He knows whether you’d be faithful with little or more. The two servants that used their talents wisely received similar greetings but not rewards. For their faithfulness, they were both commended. I believe this is the high point of the parable.

It separated those that used their talents wisely, irrespective of the profits made, from the third servant, who disobeyed the simple instructions of the master. Seeing the parable of the talents from the angle of faithfulness to the master teaches that God’s kingdom is accomplished, not merely with talents, money, or education, but with simple obedience. In Scripture, right from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible has a lot to say about obedience. When we come to the Ten Commandments, we see just how important the concept of obedience is to God. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 says: “Obey, and you will be blessed. Disobey, and you will be cursed.” God always wanted his children to obey Him irrespective of the situations which they might be going through. God has great surprises and blessings when we obey Him and trust him to the core.

There are no shortcuts in the spiritual realm, and it is always going to be the obedience that takes us to the next level of the spiritual world. Even Jesus was so obedient until His death to His Father. Disobeying or relaying on our self makes a disconnect with God. When we read the Scripture from Luke 5, Peter and others were washing their nets, cleaning out all the rubbishes and waste that they gathered during the last night of their fishing. They had not got any single fish on their nets. But when God came and said, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” (John 21:6). It is quite normal that fishes get into the net only at night times, and Peter and his co were fishing for several years before they met Jesus, and they know exactly how to catch fish. It might look like a joke or waste of time when Jesus told them to throw their nets in the daytime after spending the whole night in the sea.

He said, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (5:5, emphasis added). The soon-to-be disciple chose to obey the Lord and to leave the consequences of his decision to him. We serve a mighty God who does miracles out of nothing. When we show obedience, God puts blessings in our life. But notice what happened as a result of Peter’s obedience—Jesus demonstrated his power and sovereignty. Peter and his partners may have started the day off thinking their efforts had yielded nothing. But they ended it in complete amazement because they pulled in not one but two overflowing boatloads of fish (5:7). Saying yes to the Lord’s request resulted in a miracle that transformed not only one fisherman’s life but the lives of the entire group. Are we really obeying God? Are you obeying by trusting God? Obedience to God Proves Our Love. Love on God makes to use our talents for the Lord.