"Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or let it slip?" -Marshal Mathers III from "Lose Yourself"
Everyone has a dream or several dreams, but dreams just stay dreams, a figment of our imagination, unless they are acted upon. Instead of dreaming it, why not do it? Why not live your dream? Is it fear? Is it pride? Is it procrastination? What is holding you back from living your dreams? There have been many dreams in the history of this world few have been completed, some have started, but many were never acted upon, because those who they belonged to never seized the moment. We have become people that are pros at procrastination and we let life changing opportunities pass us by daily. We may have good intentions, but intentions are meaningless without action.
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. "Master," he said, "You entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more." His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" The man with the two talents also came. "Master," he said, "You entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more." His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your masters happiness!"
Then came the man who had received the one talent came. "Master," he said, "I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you." His master replied, "You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
-Matthew 25:14-30
The guy who had the one talent and buried it had good intentions, he wanted to keep the money safe, but he did not make use of his talent and invest it so that it could multiply. We do this all of the time with our money, our possessions and our talents. We keep them to ourselves and never use them so that they may grow. A talent at this time was money, but in this passage it symbolizes our eternal opportunities. God has given us each a certain number of opportunities here on this earth and once they are gone they are gone. Only on this earth do we have a chance to make a difference in someone's life and only on this earth do we have a chance to share our faith. In Heaven everyone will believe, but on earth thats where we have the choice. The choice to use our talents, our gifts and our abilities for the good of God, our master, or the choice to pass up those opportunities and wait and wait until it becomes too late. It is what we do with the opportunities that we are given that counts. Everything we do on this earth determines our eternity. We only get one shot, don't miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime. Yes these words came out of famous rapper Eminem's song, but it's true and God said it way before this guy even showed up.
Too many times we look at what opportunities others have been given and we do not look at what opportunities we have been given. We think, "I wish I had that ability, I could really do a lot with that." Or "I wish I made that much money, I would really give a lot if I had that kind of money", but the truth is is that you won't. If you don't use and give what you have already been given why would God give you more? Their have been studies to show that the wealthier you are the harder it is for you to give. It is shown many times in the bible and working in retail and the restaurant business I see it all of the time for myself. More than half of the world lives on less than $2 a day and that is considered poverty. If you live on welfare in the United States you are in the top 10% of the worlds wealth and if you make more than $36,000 a year you are in the top 1%. Makes us look a little selfish huh when you look at it that way?
"When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required." Luke 12:48
Everything that we have been given in this world, let me repeat that... Everything we have been given, yes given. We came into this world with nothing and we will leave this world with nothing. Everything we have at this very moment is a gift from God who has so generously let us use it here while we are living on earth. The sooner that we realize this the happier your life becomes. Because if you don't, you spend all of your energy and time into hiding it and protecting what you have that you become attached to it and upset when it gets damaged or lost or stolen. Objects will fade, get scratched, dented broken, stolen, and eventually fail so why spend the time and energy trying to protect what is not even yours in the first place? I love what Pastor Kerry said this morning during his sermon, "See I love knowing that these possessions aren't mine. When the car breaks down I just go, God you got car trouble I don't know what you are going to do about that?" Ha ha this guys got a great sense of humor, love it!
God entrusts us with opportunities, gifts, and talents and when he returns he will come to settle accounts with us. "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them"
He will ask us two questions:
1.) What did you do with the gift of my son? Did you receive that gift of sacrifice to live for eternity or did you deny it?
2.) What did you do with what I gave you? Did you use your gifts and talents to make a difference in the world for God's kingdom or did you bury them like the servant with one talent?
Remember everything we do on this earth determines how we will live for eternity.
In this story when the master came back and found that two of the servants had multiplied the talents they had been given the master said, "You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things." And to the one servant who hid his talent he said, "Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents." Because if we do not use our gifts and talents we will loose them and when we do use them God sees that he can trust us to make use of them and in return trusts us with more. The dreams that we have been given and that have been placed on our hearts are nothing without action. If we don't use them we loose them and we let another opportunity pass us by.
Don't just dream, live out your dream. Don't sit on the sidelines and watch the everyday busy work and possessions consume you, make the time and effort to use your gifts and talents and live out your dreams. Don't let any opportunity pass you by, seize it. You will never get another chance to live your life again. Don't wait, because time will never slow down, life will never be less busy or get easier with time. So stop dreaming and start living, remember this opportunity comes only once in a lifetime.
If you would like to watch Pastor Kerry's sermons online you can. Here is a link to the series 60 seconds of Clarity that he started the beginning of November:
http://www.woodlandschurch.tv/currentseries/60seconds/default.html
I suggest checking out his series "Weird because normal isn't working" also! Good stuff.
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