Use or Lose

When I worked for the government some time ago, we accrued a certain amount of annual leave every pay period. But there was a catch: If you didn't use it, you would lose it.

I never "lost it." My leave was too valuable to me to waste (admittedly, I would sometimes waste my employer's time, but not mine! And lower your eyebrows, you did it, too... some of you still do).

Jesus tells a parable (an earthly story with a heavenly meaning) in this passage, about a few men who were entrusted with responsibility to invest a sum of money they were given. They were each given different amounts (different levels of responsibility), according to their ability... but they were each given something.

Two were "good and faithful", and one was "wicked and lazy."

Two invested... one wasted.

They were expected to use what they were given... in fact, that was the reason they were given what they received. It wasn't theirs to waste... they were to invest it... all of it... in order to multiply it for the one who had given it to them.

In fact, that's what the story in this passage is all about: Jesus starts off by saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by..." He's talking about His Kingdom, and how it is supposed to grow... how it is supposed to advance. God's Kingdom will grow... is growing... and those in the Kingdom are entrusted with responsibility to invest what they've been given in order to do their part in growing the Kingdom.

Everything we have, we're expected to use to grow God's Kingdom: our gifts, talents, and abilities... our resources... our influence... everything. The result of not investing... or wasting... what we've been given is losing what we've been given (see this verse).

Those who refuse to use, choose to lose.

Catchy... and true.