This morning my son challenged me to a game of Backgammon. I crushed him. However this did not stop him from challenging me to another game. He was fearless and relentless in his attacks, stating "Big risks equals big rewards." Powerful and poignant wisdom from a 9 1/2 year old.
In my morning readings I noticed there was a lot of this idea of risk/reward in the texts. Here are some things I extracted:
"Life is not a competition that you have to win. It is not supposed to be a rat race. Life is a huge privilege and an opportunity. God has trusted you with gifts and abilities, which he wants you to use. Use them or lose them. He is faithful to us and he expects us to be faithful to him." - Bible in one year 2017, Bible app
"It has been said that, ‘The greatest mistake you could make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.’"
In the reading of Matthew 25, Jesus tells the story of three servants who are each put in charge by their master to care for a specific sum of money/talents. The servant who received five talents and the one who received two talents must both have had to risk losing it all. The third was fearful, afraid.
The moral: Step out in faith, use your gifts and risk failure. You have amazing gifts/talent. You are worth so much to God that a great investment was made in your life. The cost? His own life which was given up for your eternal joy!
The other half of the chapter tells the story of "the sheep and the goats" at the day of judgment. One, the sheep, stepped out of their comfort zone to care for those in need..."the least of these" as Jesus calls them. The goats, did not. The one who risked their personal resources, time, and even safety were given the gift of eternal joy. The ones who didn't were cast out to live out their lives in darkness.
In short, I invite you to put yourself out there today and take a leap of faith. Use the talents that you have been given to care for one another...to do "On earth as it is in Heaven."
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