We have all heard the expression “Use it or Lose it!” over the years, but did you realize that this idea comes from God’s Word?

When Jesus Christ was interested in teaching his followers about faithfulness, he used money as his illustration. I have already covered the parable of the unjust steward. It might be good to review that as it goes along with this blog.

In the parable in Mathew 25 and the parable in Luke 19, Jesus wanted to teach his followers some aspects of the kingdom that was soon to come to pass. In these records, the master gave his servants certain amounts of money and told them to do business or trade with the money until he returned.

1. These men were servants which means in that day and time they were probably bought because they could not pay their debts. This man that bought them and put them to work in his business must have spent some time training them on how to properly manage money, and now it was show time. They were to show how much they had been paying attention and what they had learned. This could easily have been a trial to see if he wanted to keep them in his employment, were they profitable to him or did he need to let them go.
2. In the record of Matthew, their master gave them “talents.” This word is confusing in English. We think of talent as actors, those that play the piano, artists or that may have a talent for sports.

But the word has two meanings.

Talent has two principal meanings: (Wikipedia)

• Talent (measurement), an ancient unit of mass and value.
• Talent (skill), a group of aptitudes useful for some activities; talents may refer to aptitudes themselves or to possessors of those talents.

According to the Britannica:  talent, a unit of weight used by many ancient civilizations, such as the Hebrews, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The weight of a talent and its relationship to its major subdivision, the mina, varied considerably over time and location in the ancient world. The most common ratio of the talent to the mina was probably 1:60.

The Hebrew talent, or kikkār, probably of Babylonian origin, was the basic unit of weight among the ancient Hebrews. In the sacred system of weights, the Talmudic talent was equal to 60 Talmudic minas.

The original Greek word for “talent” is talantos, which refers to quantity.

So, in this record in Matthew, the word “talent” is used as a unit of weight or an amount of money.

3. Both records are parables which means they are not literally true stories. They are illustrations in story form to teach a specific point. In Matthew 25 Jesus’s point is about faithfulness again just like in the parable of the unjust steward.

So, let’s read the record from Matthew 25.

Matthew 25:14-30  For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16  Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17  And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.18  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20  And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22  He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23  His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

If we see ourselves as stewards/managers of the prosperity God has given us, then we need to learn how to make that money grow. It is interesting that Jesus uses money as the measuring stick to see faithfulness. Money is easy to count, easy to see how much progress we have made.

The master gave his servants varying amounts of money depending on their abilities. In this record, two of the servants doubled the amount of money the master gave them. In the record in Luke, the master gave them each the same amount of money, but they brought back different amounts – one 10 times as much and one 5 times as much as they were given. In both records, one servant gained nothing by trading but went and hid his master’s money. They did not even put it in the bank to gain interest.

Jesus spent more time teaching about the two that did nothing than he did with those that were profitable.

In Matthew, the servant that hid the money accused his Master of being a hard man, thus he was afraid of Him. In other words, he put the blame for his inaction on his master. Fear is one of the enemies of believing. There are a great many promises in God’s word of His prospering us. He has promised that “everything we do shall prosper,” “He will fill our storehouses,” and our barns shall be filled with plenty, etc.

The first servants in this parable were not afraid. They must have trusted what they had been taught and went to work. Have you ever heard the expression “trust the process?”  So why be afraid of losing what you have saved? Learn how to invest and trade and have fun. Remember God as your Father is right there to teach you and guide you.

Sometimes wealth does sprout wings and fly away, but God is still our El-Shaddai, and He has great power to defend, to support and supply our every need. He wants to see us being faithful to grow what He has given us. And as we are faithful, God is able to give us even more to steward as He did with these men.

He wants us simply to use what He has given. Some have taught that to steward something is to return it in the same condition as when they received it, or perhaps a little better. God does not want us to return to Him exactly what He gave us. In fact, the servant that gave back to the master exactly what he was given was called “wicked and slothful.” Then the wicked and slothful had the money he had been given taken away, and it was given to the faithful. WOW!

When we don’t use our muscles, we lose them. When we don’t stay in touch with our friends, we lose our connection with them. When we don’t use our “abilities,” we’re cheating ourselves.

God has a great deal of investment in your life. He created you; He Shaped you, and He gave His only Son Jesus Christ for you. He has given us the principles of prosperity, and He wants you to use them. He wants us to generate income and to build up the church.

If we can learn to be faithful stewards of the things of this life, the unrighteous mammon, the prosperity He gives us, then we show ourselves to be faithful servants of our Father, and He can trust us with even more of the spiritual side of this life.

Use it – or Lose it! This too is part of The Prosperous Life.

​Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.