Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To One he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability, and he went on his journey. 

Matthew 25:13-15, NASB

We were studying this familiar parable in Bible class the other day. In this parable of the talents, Jesus taught that the master (God) gives His servants (us) talents according to our abilities. The word talent has come to mean ability in our modern language, but in Jesus' time it referred to a specific amount of money. To be specific, the word talent as used in the Bible referred to a resource. And in this parable, the resource is given by God in proportion to the ability each of us possesses. 

During the class, one of our wiser students of the Bible pointed out that many people are afraid that they will "blow their opportunity" and use up all of the resources that God has given us for His service. He also made the point that this is something we should not be worried about for the amount of talents (resources) that God gives us is so vast that there will be plenty for us to use in His service should we fail a time or two. For God has made certain that we will have enough provisions for a lifetime of service.

I thought this was such an important observation! Remember in the parable that the servants who actually used the talents in conjunction with their abilities, also God-given, were successful in their service to the Master. In the end, they were the ones who heard those most beautiful of words, "Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master's joy!" Condemnation was reserved only for the one who didn't use the resources because he said he was afraid he would lose them. The master wisely pointed out the true problem: The servant was wicked and lazy! It mattered not that he was afraid, because this servant clearly did not want to serve in the first place.

But this attitude must not apply to you and me. Of course we do not want to waste the resources that God has given us, but we will not be wasting them if we are using them in His service. It is true that we will try and fail at times, but the talents that God has given us are plentiful enough for us to have what we need for the rest of our life! It is like when I was a cook at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I might accidentally burn a piece or two of the chicken and I might even drop some on the floor. But the owner of the store had already made allowance for mishaps, so there was always an abundance of chicken left to be cooked, even when I made a mistake and ruined some of it.

And, as the wise gentleman pointed out in our Bible class, you don't have to worry about an honest mistake wasting all of the talents God has entrusted you with. What's more, you do not have to fret about past failures when you were not making an honest effort to serve God. What we need to be concerned about is what we will do now! And the fact is that for those willing to serve God in the manner He has prescribed, there will always be enough talents remaining for He has the foresight to know exactly how much you will need to last for a lifetime of service.

Knowing this, the only thing left for us to do is to serve the Master until He comes. He has given us the provisions, and His Holy Word contains all the instruction we need to correct the mistakes that we might make. We can then continue our service for as long as we have opportunity to do so. So, don't worry about running out, for God has given you and I all we need to get the job done. If we will continue to use the talents we have with all of the ability that God has given us, then someday we too will hear those beautiful words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" It's a wonderful life, isn't it!