The Parable Of Investment: God Will Not Judge You By How Much You Made, But How Much You Should Have Made

Matt 25:14-29 is one of the most popular parables in the bible. While some call it the Parable of Talents or Minas or Pounds, some refer to it as the Parable of the Three Servants, Pastor Sam Adeyemi calls it the Parable Of Dollars. I call it the Parable of Investment.



Here is the passage (KJV):

"For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou 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. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, 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. 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: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 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: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 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."

This is another scripture that informs us that we all should be investors -investing our time, talent(s) and money in profitable ventures. God did not create anyone to waste away, he didn't create any person without any talent whatsoever, or without purpose.

From the parable, we see that

1. God is a savvy investor who invests in people and expects a return on his investment.
2. The degree of returns expected from you is proportional to the amount invested in you.
3. The minimum form of investment you can make (on cash/money), is for it to be fixed in a savings deposit account to generate interest.
4. It isn't wise to bury money when you can put it to work. Neither is it wise to bury your 'talent' also -it is an investment in you, from God, for which he expects a return. Hardwork and diligence guarantees success.
5. God will not judge you by another's returns, or even by your own returns. He will judge you by how much you should have returned, based on his investment in you.

I call it the parable of investment because it shows us that God believes in profitability and multiplication. God has invested in the earth and in us, and that is why he also expects us to replenish the earth and multiply.

God isn't pleased when we aren't fruitful (John 15: 2) or profitable. And the bible clearly speaks against laziness and irresponsibility (Prov 12:24, 21:25, 1Thess 4:11, 2Thess 3:10,12).

So be careful when you compare yourself to others, or vice-versa. The most important person you should compare yourself against, in terms of profitability and effectiveness is you - "Have you discovered what talents you have been given? Are you doing your utmost to make the most of it to the betterment of humanity?" In the end, what will matter is not how many houses or bank accounts or children you have, but if you made the most of what you were given.

The yardstick isn't without, but within us all. Cheers!