Use It Or Lose It, Baby

Reference: Luke 19:35 "Yes," the king replied, "and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away."

Observation: After giving the parable of the talents, Jesus makes this very important point; if we put to use what God gives us, He will give us more. If we let it lie unused God refuses to entrust any more to us. In fact, the inplication of the parable is that He will take back what He has already given us.

There are so many ways we can apply this. When God speaks to us, if we do what He says, He will speak more. If we fail to respond, He will stop speaking. If He blesses us with financial wealth and we invest it well for His purposes, He will give us more. If we just hang on to it and pile it up, He may not. When He pours out a deep sense of His love on us and we give that love to others, it keeps coming to us. When we try to hold it all to ourselves, we are going to lose it. When God gives us actual talents (musical, speaking, craftsmanship) and we use them to advance His kingdom, He will give us more. If we don’t we will lose them.

The simple principle is; "use it or lose it".

Application/Confession: The challenge I most often face with this verse is doing everything that God tells me to do. I, so often, want to make excuses as to why I shouldn’t respond to His voice. I felt led to go to someone’s home the other day and pray for them. Instead of responding, I rationalized that I didn’t want to disturb them, they were probably not home or busy. They, and I, may have missed out on a blessing and I may have missed out on hearing God as clearly next time. I want to be a person who hears and obeys the voice of God always.

PRAYER: Lord, forgive me. I have not been as faithful to hear and obey your voice as I should be. Please help me. Please give me the grace to speak to me again and the grace to respond. I want to be a part of what you are doing every day. Please give me a responsive heart.