OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - WEDNESDAY - 21/08/2013 - HOW PROFITABLE ARE YOU? BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

HOW PROFITABLE ARE YOU?

MEMORY VERSE

Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

Matthew 25:28

READ

Matthew 25:24-30

Matthew 25:24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

Matthew 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

Matthew 25:26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

Matthew 25:27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Matthew 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

Matthew 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

MESSAGE

Believers have different endowment of grace from God. God has given us different talents. It is one thing to have a talent and another thing to use it. In Acts 8:5-8, Philip shone for the Lord and brought joy to a city. How many individuals, families or communities have you delivered joy to? If one man with the same Holy Spirit you have can deliver joy to a city, you have no excuse for not being a source of joy to others. On the other hand, if light fails to shine, darkness will take over. If you consider the aftermath of not trading with the talent given in the parable of the talents, no believer in his or her right mind will like to go through such (Matthew 25:28–30). Instead of a commendation, the unprofitable servant received a rebuke. May the Lord not rebuke you for neglecting your talent!

Besides rebuke, the servant who received one talent lost it to his colleague who traded with his. Do you know that apart from eternity, some believers can lose their talents to fellow believers here on earth? This is one reason to use whatever God has given to you in a most productive way to glorify Him. If God is totally glorified in the way you use the resources He has given to you, there will be no need to give it to someone else. Today, there are many believers who once had certain talents or abilities but because they failed to use them well, the grace to operate such divine endowments was withdrawn; they can only point to other people they see using the talents they once had. That shall not be your portion in Jesus name! The servant was tagged an unprofitable servant. Can God call you a profitable servant? What kind of profit has your presence and involvement brought to the Kingdom of God? Finally, the servant had to share eternity with unbelievers. In other words, if your salvation through the blood of Jesus cannot benefit God's Kingdom, one can still end up in hell. May you end up in Heaven! Rise up, dust your talents and begin to use them from now.

KEY POINT

If your life can truly generate profits for God's Kingdom, you stand to benefit from God both now and in eternity.