When you think about assets, chances are you think about things you own: your car, your house, the dollars tucked into your savings account or 401K. But there are other kinds of assets, too—your personal gifts and natural abilities. And God is very interested in how you manage these unique assets.
In Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus tells us about a businessman who owned land and other enterprises. Apparently he had lots of servants—or stewards, as they called them. And they had varying degrees of ability.
Now it came about that this businessman was going away on a long journey and had to leave his affairs in the hands of these servants, and he wanted them to make some money for him while he was gone. So he called in one servant and said, “Look, I’m going to give you five bags of gold. I want you to see what you can do with them.” And the servant said he’d do his best.
The businessman continued down the list of his stewards, giving one two bags of gold and another one bag of gold. Each man promised to do the best he could.
The businessman was gone a long time, and when he returned he called each of his stewards in for a report. The first said, “I invested wisely, and have doubled your money. Here are 10 bags of gold.”
“Well done!” the businessman exclaimed. “You are a good and faithful servant. I’m going to put you in charge of even more of my wealth.”
The next servant had also doubled his money, and brought the businessman four bags of gold. He, too, was praised and rewarded with even greater opportunities.
But then the steward with only one bag of gold came in carrying…only one bag of gold. “I didn’t want to take any chances with what you’d given me, so I buried my bag. Here is your gold back.”
The businessman was angry. “You wicked, lazy servant! I’m going to throw you out in the street where you can see how difficult things really are!”
The lesson Jesus was teaching is clear: You are supposed to take what Almighty God gave you and do the best you can with it. No matter how much or how little you received, God asks of you, “What have you done with you life.” This is an important question. God gives us certain abilities, and He expects us to use them—not for merely selfish purposes, but for the building of a better world.
What can you offer God today?
