[arcura]

Matthew 25:14. `It is like a man about to go abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them.
15. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one, each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out on his journey.
16. The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more.
17. The man who had received two made two more in the same way.
18. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19. Now a long time afterwards, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them.
20. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. `Sir,' he said, `you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.'
21. His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness.'
22. Next the man with the two talents came forward. `Sir,' he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.'
23. His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness.'
24. Last came forward the man who had the single talent. `Sir,' said he, `I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you had not sown and gathering where you had not scattered;
25. So I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.'
26. But his master answered him, `You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered?
27. Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have got my money back with interest.
28. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the ten talents.
29. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has.
30. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.'
Your opinion please.
Is Jesus telling us we should do works that make more money or is he teaching something else?
Peace and kindness,
Fred

[Superfly999]

In my opinion it means if you are truthful and not lustful of money and do what you should with what you have you will be trusted with more. He will provide unto you what you are able to handle. If you are not trustworthy with little you will not be with a lot or have a lot. Basically what I get from it is you will be given what you can handle and bless those with what you have and be blessed and again bless those with the more blessing you receive. However that is just my opinion on this :P

[arcura]

Superfly999,
Thanks.
Your opinion is what I asked for and it is a good one.
That's my opinion.
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)

[cogs]

I don't think this is about money. I think it's about us being in the true vine, producing fruit worthy of the kingdom of god. God's word in us convinces us of our faults, and we should repent. Then, we will begin to obey god, be in his will, and start to produce fruit. This is the work we should be doing to produce a 'profit'. We can only do this in the vine, because as a branch alone, off the vine, we will only wither, and be thrown into the fire. Whatever work or trials god chooses for us, we should make good use of the resources to that end. I can't give further explanation, as I am still inexperienced in this walk. Hm, maybe I'll find a way to give something to the bankers... now what is the explanation there?

[arcura]

cogs,
I think you did quite well with that.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

[Superfly999]

I agree, its more along the lines of being loyal and obeying god. Although, I do believe it was focusing a bit on finance being that this is a big area and always has been being that in this world it controls whether we eat or have things or power or nothing at all. But by obeying him you get his blessings which of course can be anything including extra money lol.

[arcura]

Superfly999,
I agree.
Thanks
Fred

[Choux]

This is a parable, a story with a spiritual meaning told as a metaphor in concrete language.

One might think that the servant(believer) who did not risk anything would have gotten a good reward for keeping the master's money safe. However, that is not the case. It is the two servants given the most money(spiritual wisdom) who *risked everything* that received the praise and reward from the master(God).

This parable teaches that a believer given the great wealth of spiritual wisdom will receive great rewards for sharing the spiritual wisdom with the world as it will multiply... the believer who hides away God's spiritual wisdom for safekeeping will lose it.

Wonderful story. :)

[arcura]

Choux,
Indeed it is a wonderful story.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

[revdrgade]

Matthew 25:14. `It is like a man about to go abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them.
15. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one, each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out on his journey.
16. The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more.
17. The man who had received two made two more in the same way.
18. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19. Now a long time afterwards, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them.
20. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. `Sir,' he said, `you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.'
21. His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness.'
22. Next the man with the two talents came forward. `Sir,' he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.'
23. His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness.'
24. Last came forward the man who had the single talent. `Sir,' said he, `I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you had not sown and gathering where you had not scattered;
25. so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.'
26. But his master answered him, `You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered?
27. Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have got my money back with interest.
28. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the ten talents.
29. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has.
30. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.'
Your personal opinion please.
Is Jesus telling us we should do works that make more money or is he teaching something else?
Peace and kindness,
Fred

Each us is different in gifts and talents (and often our experiencial background). And each of us has a purpose in His kingdom on earth.

Jesus is speaking about using the gifts, talents, etc that we have in order to be His witnesses on those around us.

1 Tim 2:3-5
3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
NIV

[Teresa51]

I agree more with revdrgade's assessment, to include not only using our spiritual wisdom, but the actual abilities, talents, giftings, experiences, etc. that we all have, to do what God has created us specifically to do.

For an example, we all know of people who have a gift of music---it just seems to come easy for them. We are to use that gift (we have been given) in some manner to promote the message of God. That does not necessarily mean to sing gospel music, but using your talent in such a way that you reach those persons who wouldn't listen to the gospel normally, so that you have that contact and be an influence on them.

Or maybe a different perspective would be a person gifted in music who became famous in the country music industry, and used a portion of his gain to advance something within the kingdom of God.

Or what about the person who has a "gift" for organization. Use that gift of organization in some way to reach the 'unchurched'.

To me, the servant that hid his money, is like a person who has a talent or gift and does not share it with others. I heard it preached one time, and I will never forget it, God did not gives us our gifts, talents, and abilities, for ourselves. He gave them to us to give to others.