WOYWW: Time, Talent & Treasure

Here's my desk this morning.
I've got a bottle full of roses from a party I attended
with my husband last Monday.
I do so love fresh flowers, don't you?

"To everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, 
even what he has will be taken away." Luke 19:26

Before sleeping last night I prayed that the gospel today would give me guidance about what to do about some employees who have been doing things they shouldn't. Of course we would want to balance compassion with the discipline and consequences that are needed.

Today's parable in the 19th chapter of Luke is about a master who left a talent each to his 10 servants while he went off to claim a crown. A talent is no small sum of money. Each talent was about 20 years wages of an ordinary person. So for someone on minimum wage, that would have been more than two million eight hundred pesos. They were entrusted to not only take care of it but to make it grow. When he came back, one servant made the mistake of just keeping the huge amount of money in a handkerchief!

When one is given a job, we have to do our best and use our skills so that the company who hired us earns from our labor directly or indirectly. If we are a good employee, we will make sure our employer earns a lot from our efforts! The same is true with what God gives us. We don't own anything. What we have is God's investment in us. And one day there will be an accounting of what we have done with all that God entrusted to us-
our time, talent and treasure.

Sometimes in a business there is a dishonest employee. He steals money. Instead of the company earning from him, the company loses money :^((( In Jesus' story, the master reprimands one servant because he should have put the money in the bank instead of keeping it in a handkerchief, to earn interest. He takes the talent from him and gives it to the one who earned 10 times the talent! What would this demanding master have done if the servant absconded with the talent?

God rewards those who use their talents well. Those who are faithful with little will be entrusted with more. Those who neglect or squander what they have, or use it for evil and not good, will lose what they have. Perhaps it's time to take stock of our own talents and see if God is getting a good return on His investment in us.

 "Zaccheus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house," Luke 19:

I've read this story about Zacchaeus, the tax collector, so many times and each time I picture in my head a short, funny man, a cartoon like character, with no dignity.

But the other side of Zaccheus, I never thought about. After all, he was a real person just like Jesus is real, not a cartoon character. Zacchaeus was probably a smart man, intelligent, to get to be the CHIEF tax collector. And because he was shunned and despised, he was probably lonely. And perhaps he had dignity of another kind. He was very rich, extremely wealthy, and his clothes would have been of the finest cloth and tailoring. 

It must have taken a lot for him to climb a tree to see Jesus. He had to shed his pride. He became like a child again. In Matthew 18:3, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will NEVER enter the Kingdom of Heaven." 

Jesus saw Zacchaeus' heart. The eagerness, the longing to be accepted by Jesus, the willingness to give up the life he had. And so Jesus, looking up said, "I'm going to stay at your house today!" And Zacchaeus was like a little kid, unmindful of what he must have looked like, scrambling down the tree, eagerly, joyfully.

Jesus always sees that part of us, no matter how small, that longs to please Him. That part of our heart that desires to be united with the One who loves us best. And when He sees that, He invites us, "Today I want to stay at your house!" It doesn't matter what we've done before. If we clamber down from our indifference, our pride, our selfishness, in humility and determination, eagerly, joyfully, Jesus will come to stay in our heart!

Previous Posts

For my growing collection of prompts, 

inspirations, creative pursuits,

courageous artists and their art, join me here!

or on Facebook and Instagram

Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 

peek at desks and projects!

 

I find a lot of inspiration

visiting my friends here:

Testimony Tuesday,  Tuesday Link Up Party
Titus 2 Tuesdays, Count Your Blessings, Word Art Wednesday, 

Whatever You Want Wednesday,Winsome Wednesdays, Share the Joy, 

Wednesday Christian Homemaking Link Party

What's It Wednesdays, Unite, WholeHearted Home,

 Rubie Tuesday Link Up, Be Inspired

 A Little R and R,  No Rules Weekend Blog Party

What We Accomplished, Wow Us Wednesdays
The Weekly Creative, Three Word Wednesday

Thoughtful Thursday,  Hearts4Home Thursdays, Thought Provoking Thursday

Thriving Thursdays with Serving Joyfully

Thursday Favorites, Desire to Inspire Legacy Leaver Thursday

Creative Things, Bloom! Soul Survival

Blessings!

Patsy