Tractors and Talents

Every day on my commute to and from church, I pass this John Deere tractor just outside Viola, IL.  As you can tell from the picture, it is pretty rough; its whole body is covered with rust, faded & chipped paint, ensnarled with branches & debris, unmovable, and dead.  It sits like a hollow memorial to what could have been.  It’s almost sad to look upon...a well made instrument wasted.     

In His parable of the talents, Jesus says in Matthew 25:18, “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”  This verse got me thinking about the abandoned tractor; surely at one time, that green and yellow machine had to have been running and successfully assisting its creator in fulfilling his work.  Now it is unproductive and broken..literally and figuratively frozen to the ground.

In this world, I’m afraid to say that many people fall into this category; hiding away their gifts and stalling out in their productivity.  Regardless of our reasons why, God has still bestowed upon all of us a unique array of talents!  And this bundle of talents is the thing God has given you to make you who you are and sets you apart from other people.  We are challenged and called in 1 Peter 4:10 “…Use whatever gift He has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace.”  Since we are the body of Christ, and each part matters…meaning NO ONE who is insignificant.  We are shaped to serve others through our talents.      

1 Corinthians 4:2 states, “You are a manager of the gifts God has given to you. They may be great or small in your eyes, but they matter to God.  "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."  See, when God made you, He placed an investment in you.  He expects a return on that investment…more importantly, He DESERVES one!

My questions for you:  Are you using what God has given you to creatively fulfill the work of the Father (connecting them to Jesus Christ) or are you burying those talents to benefit yourself?

Those who know me know how much I love movies; in A Bronx Tale, Robert De Niro’s character states, “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”  How very true this statement is.  When God gives you a talent, He expects you to use it.  If you don’t, you’ll lose it.  Like the parable of the ten talents (Luke 19), if you don’t use what God has given you, He will take it away and give it to someone else who will.  WASTED TALENT.  But if you use those gifts, He will strengthen them and GIVE YOU MORE...Well done, good and FAITHFUL servant.

So what kind of tractor are you?