“Faith is essential in your success. Faith is needed in almost every area of our lives: work, projects, and small business endeavors,” – Alex Cook
Jesus gave a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 where he tells the story of 8 bags of gold, and the 3 employees he entrusted them to. This parable taught me important values I’ve learned to trust and lean on in the workplace. Looking at the first verse in the parable, verse 14, establishes the setting and relationship between the main characters (the boss and his employees). The boss was leaving for a certain time, the business needed to continue in his temporary absence, and he had chosen 3 of his employees to do important tasks.
The parable builds to the great end where the boss exclaims “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!” (Matthew 25:21, NIV). What a statement, WELL DONE! The job didn’t need any additional effort, it didn’t need any excess, everything was just at the right measure, well done.
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Well stated. I was thinking of the part of this parable mentioning the “bankers.” I suspect
they are the preachers, pastors, teachers in these end times and our obligation to help
them get the message out, receiving interest and building our treasures in heaven.
In the comments a reference is made “there is great value in hard work”. The master, according to what we learn in the parable, came by his money in a dishonest way. If I have not been given talent to be an “investment banker” and the only thing I have learned from my master is a dishonest way to make money, I would rather bury it too. This parable is very challenging for many reasons none-the-least of which is managing wealth while maintaining and growing a heart for God. This parable is pretty harsh toward a man who was honest and returned the money. He did not resort to immoral ways to grow the investment and he did give the master back “what was his” even though the servant makes a point that what his master gave him truly wasn’t his because he reaped where he did not sow. If this parable is about God-given talents, and we are to appreciate and help others grow in their faith then it is the first two servants who have done wrong because they were focused on themselves instead of helping this man succeed!
Hi Sharon, the parable’s goal is to highlight the characters/heart of the 3 servants. Please note that the nature and character of the master are based on the perception/opinion of the 3rd servant, which to my understanding is not accurate. Otherwise, we will see confirmations from the first 2 servants. So I doubt that the master was dishonest. Remember, the storyteller was the Son of God. 🙂
We all see God in different ways. Some see Him one way, others see Him other ways.
Just fyi… in the first paragraph of the article the author states “ Jesus gave a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 where he tells the story of 3 bags of gold, and the 3 employees he entrusted them to”. The parable is not about 3 bags of gold it is about 8 bags of gold with the bags representing God given talents thereby showing that some people have many talents and others have few.
Hi Sharon, thanks for sharing that typo. We have changed it. Good catch! 🙂