“Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.” (Matt. 25:28)
When a person goes to a bank for a loan, the bank expects that money to be repaid, and not only do they charge interest, usuary for lending you that money, but they will require what is called collateral, something you own must be in effect signed over to them until that money is repaid, if it is not, they will become the owners of that collateral. A credit card works in a sense in the same way, yet without the collateral, they will pay what you owe to whomever you purchased that item from, and then you must repay them.
Do not think that either of these institutions are assisting you out of the goodness of their hearts.
Recall here Proverbs 22:7, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” But that is not the context of this short letter, our opening verse is.
Three men were given money in the parable, two were profitable servants, one was not, and that one lost even that which he was given. Some will contend that this means the loss of salvation, but most will disagree, for it has to do with what the Lord has blessed us with and how we have used it for His glory in this life. Not those material things that you own, but the Spiritual gifts that you have been blessed with.
I liken it in part to Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” To know and understand the Word of God can only be done by those who have the indwelling Holy Spirit, for these things are Spiritually discerned, no unsaved person can understand the Scriptures beyond a head knowledge, they do not have the capability to comprehend what the Scriptures say. That gift you have been given is to be used to lift up the name of Jesus Christ, to glorify God, and if you do not do so, no matter the reason or excuse that you have imagined to be viable, there will be no rewards waiting for you in heaven.
The Almighty expects results, He expects His servants to be profitable, He expects His children to be obedient, no excuse will be tolerated when the truth has been shown to us. And do not deceive yourself here, “I did not hear you clearly” will not be accepted, you may not understand fully everything written in the Scriptures, but that which has been revealed to you is to be acted upon. “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” (Luke 12:48)
Few who have been saved by the grace of God will have their names added to the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11, few will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant,” many, if not most will hear only “Welcome.”
I do not claim to understand how the rewards in heaven will be given, nor do I claim to know if the position of those rewards, our service to the Lord will grow the longer we are there, I know only what the Word of God tells us today, that some will receive rewards and some will not.
Here, on this earth in this life is where we are to be working out our salvation, to be willing to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, here is where we are glorifying God by being willing and obedient servants. “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
In heaven you will see, you will hear and know, you will understand, there will be no faith in heaven, for you will be in the presence of God Almighty. If you will not use those gifts for His glory here, if you will not stand and speak for Him here, why would you expect any rewards when you get home?
