Here are the challenges I see in these three parables:
1) Be prepared for Christ's return at all times...
2) ...by using the gifts he has gives you...
3) ...and serving those who are often overlooked, for how we treat the least is how we treat Jesus.
I am struck by the third servants response to his master, "I knew you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown...So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground." It is true that Jesus reeps a harvest where we sow seeds. But is this how we view Jesus, as hard; someone to fear? Or is that an excuse; do we really fear using his gifts in the world arround us; afraid that sowing his seed may cause us trouble? Either way, when fear gets the best of us, that is when we fail to live up to the grand purpose He has for us in this world. So to the three challenges above, I would add: trust and do not fear. We have been given so much, and much to do. How will we respond?
I never caught the fear that was in the servant. For me,(and I suspect many people), fear is often a factor in many of my actions. The fear of being wrong, ridiculed, hurting someones feelings, saying the wrong thing all influence our actions (and more often, our inaction). I think the challenge to trust and not fear is good one to work on
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