To Be Like Jesus

Faithful Users of Talents Will Hear “Well Done,” March 23

The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. Matthew 25:16, 17, NRSV. BLJ 91.1

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The ransom money has been paid for every son and daughter of Adam, and [the fact] that those who have been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ refuse allegiance to Him will not shield them from the retribution that will come upon them in the last day. They will have to answer for their neglect to use their entrusted talents for the Master. They will have to answer for their reproaches against their Maker and Redeemer, and for their robbery of God in withholding their talents from His service, and burying their Lord's goods in the earth. BLJ 91.2

The human family is composed of responsible moral agents, and from the highest and most gifted to the lowest and most obscure, all are invested with the goods of heaven. Time is an entrusted gift of God, and is to be diligently employed in the service of Christ. Influence is a gift of God, and is to be exerted for the forwarding of the highest, noblest purposes. Christ died on Calvary's cross that all our influence might be used to lift Him up before a perishing world. Those who behold the Majesty of heaven dying on the cross for their transgressions will value their influence only as it draws men and women to Christ, and they will use it for this purpose only. Intellect is an entrusted talent. Sympathy and affection are talents to be sacredly guarded and improved, that we may render service to Him whose purchased possession we are. BLJ 91.3

All that we are or can be belongs to God. Education, discipline, and skill in every line should be used for Him.... Whether the amount entrusted is large or small, the Lord requires that His householders do their best. It is not the amount entrusted or the improvement made that brings to men and women the approbation of heaven, but it is the faithfulness, the loyalty to God, the loving service rendered, that brings the divine benediction “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” This reward of joy does not wait until our entrance into the City of God, but the faithful servant has a foretaste of it even in this life.—The Signs of the Times, January 23, 1893. BLJ 91.4