If He should set His heart to it and gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.

If you have understanding, hear this, listen to what I say.

Job 34:14-16, ESV

 

Why should I serve God? Why should I seek His will? Why can't I just live my life in the way I want? Who does God think that He is that I should have to do what He says, anyway?

 

People are always asking questions such as these. They feel justified in doing so - some even feel that it is the intelligent thing to do. After all, why should we blindly follow God? And so, because they are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight, they simply live what they mistakenly believe to be their own life. But this type of thought process is as selfish as it is unreasoned. Most people who get to this point do so because they are too lazy to seek out the truth about God. The first chapter of Romans has much to say about such people. They become so self-centered that they often enter into unspeakable behaviors which are much more akin to that of animals rather than men.

 

In Romans 1:18-20, God's infallible Word points out that such men are without excuse. The passage goes on to reveal that men who reject God are fools. Elihu, in the passage we read from in the Book of Job, said that such men were without understanding. But, you are not that way! You know the answers to all such questions pertaining to why we serve God, because God has endowed the people He has created to have basic understanding.

 

And what is that understanding? It is simply this: God created us. We would not be here had he not. Further, if He were to withdraw His breath we would simply cease to exist! All who possess the smallest capacity for understanding know this. 

 

I feel sorry for those who reject God's authority. They miss out on so much joy. Who but God could have created such beauty as we find throughout this world that He created? Who but God would have thought to create such variety, such an assortment of colors and flavors and textures? Who but God would have thought to give us families, that we might enjoy our parents and spouses and children and grandchildren? Who but God could have created an environment in which we could engage in any wholesome pursuit we desired when it came to our occupations and hobbies and other worthwhile things that men find to do if they will only look?

 

Only God our Creator could do this, and we will be wise indeed if we will can only understand this most basic truth: If He were to withdraw His breath, we would cease to be! But He hasn't because He loves us. Doesn't it behoove us, then, to seek His will and to do it? Not only are we obliged to do so, but it will give us untold joy. Only God could do this! The question is, do we have the understanding to see it?  

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...

Joshua 24:15, NIV (1978)

 

I remember hearing a man reluctantly give and account of some very difficult times that he had been through. I say reluctantly because some of the things he had been through had not been pleasant and were somewhat difficult to recount. We can relate to this because we all have had some things happen in our own lives that we would just rather not talk about. I am so glad that this gentleman did in his case, because by doing so he helped me to understand a little more of what it takes to survive hard times.

 

I won't go through all of the details, but the quick story is that he had lost his wife of over 25 years to a very painful type of cancer. Some years later he lost his son and two grandsons in a terrible accident. The boat they were in capsized in a sudden storm. Though this man tried to rescue them, his efforts failed and he was barely able to escape the frigid waters himself. 

 

Having been through so much tragedy and seemingly so well at that, people had a lot of questions for him. How do you survive such heartache? Were you mad at God? How did you keep your faith? The man had a lot of time to think about these very things as he worked through his grief and his answer was something I have never forgotten. He said that there were somethings so difficult to get through in life that you had to handle them in advance. "In advance?", you might be questioning, "How can you handle the unknown in advance?" His explanation, I believe, is important to us all.

 

He revealed that he and his wife had decided to be faithful to God, many years earlier. They had determined that he most important thing to them was to be in Heaven someday, both they and their family. Though they could not have possibly known the depth of testing that would occur to their faith, they knew that unexpected things happen all the time in life. They also understood that some of life's surprises were hard - too hard to go through on a moment's notice, so they had decided, in advance, that they would serve the Lord no matter what. 

 

Would this type of determination help you? I know it has helped me because I have all too often been a "spur of the moment" kind of guy. In other words, I sometimes just kind of "react" to whatever situation may arise. This kind of attitude is fine for determining things like where you should eat tonight, or what kind of T-shirt should you wear today, but it is a lousy way to live when it comes to your service to God.

 

Think about it: If you have to decide if you will be faithful to God every time something hard happens in your life, you are not going to do very well. It is like the man who has to think about whether he will remain faithful to his wife every time a tempting woman comes along. This is a decision and commitment that should have been made before you get married, not after.

 

So, how about you? If somethings difficult happens will you remain faithful to God... or will you lose your faith? This is something you very likely have already made some time ago when you devoted your life to Christ. But, if you are really not so sure how you would handle a serious testing of your faith, you need to do some deep soul-searching. You may find that you never really committed to God in the first place. If that is the case, then now would be a good time to recommit your life to God, for some things can only be handled in advance. 

 

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do,

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature be thus minded...

Philippians 3:12-15, RSV

 

I have always loved this passage. The Apostle Paul had in his earlier years persecuted Christians, often threatening them with death and having them thrown into prison. He was one of the "in crowd" for his efforts. He was wealthy, powerful and comfortable, but he gave all of these things up when He realized that Jesus really was the Son of God. Now the roles are reversed, and Paul has been under the threat of death and is now in prison - cast there by the very "In crowd" that he was once part of. 

 

But rather than think about what he had done (he had already repented of that and had had his sins washed away), and instead of bemoaning all that he had lost in order to follow Christ, he decided to simply put all of that behind him and concentrate on his goal of Heaven. 

 

How do we do this? How can we just forget what is in the past? Many are haunted by their failures and consider them so significant that they just can't give them up. In a like manner, many really seemed better off physically in the past. How do they forget that which they have given up? Paul, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us the secret to this seemingly impossible task: He can forget what lies behind, both the good and the bad, because he has something far bigger to focus upon.

 

In short, he has a goal. That goal is eternal, so he is able to forget the temporal things of his past because they are no longer relevant to one who has an eternal perspective. 

 

Could this type of mindset help you? Could it really help you let go of the past and get on with life? The answer is yes, because the more important always has the ability to crowd out the less important. And while our past lives cannot be ignored, they can be diminished in such a way as to no longer rule over our thoughts. When you have a great goal, you no longer need to live with the regrets of missed opportunities, for you now have something far greater to occupy your mind with. Your goal is now nothing less than Heaven itself - both for you and for those you love. 

 

So, like Paul, you can forget what lies behind and focus your thoughts on what lies ahead. No wonder Paul said this as he wrapped up his letter to the Philippians:

 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Philippians 4:4, RSV

 

 

 

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. 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.

Matthew 25:14-15, KJV

 

Down through the years the English word "talent" has become synonymous with the word "ability". But this was not the meaning of the Greek word in the parable that Jesus gave, for the word "talent" in His time referred to a specific amount of money. Those who have studied such things give an estimate of 3,000 denarii for one talent, and a denarius was equivalent to a day's wages. 300 denarii would be a full year's wage (given time off for sabbaths and feast days). In the parable, the man given one talent was given the equivalent of ten year's wages, the two talent man was given twenty year's wages, and the five talent man was entrusted with a full fifty year's wages. Jesus told in the parable that they were given the talents according to their ability.

 

Considering the fact that in 2023 the average family income for the world is a little over $12,000 a year, you can quickly calculate where you are in the talent department. If you live in America, you are far enough above the world's average to likely place you in the "five talent" category for wages. Further, as recently as 1950, the average life span in our world was less than 50 years. Considering it is now around 72 years, you would have to say that we are in the five talent range for modern men when it comes to the number of years we have to live. 

 

So, what's the point? I hope that you have already seen it, for we who are blessed to live in the era that we do have been given and abundance of resources in the form of time and money. When you consider that our talents are resources, and that these resources are given according to our ability, we need to be giving serious thought as to what we are doing with these talents. Are we using them for God, or does He have to content Himself with the "scraps" of our leftovers? Do we look at money as ours, or do we see it as belonging to the Master? Is our time our own or, again, is it another resource that we understand must be used to the best of our ability?

 

If you are like me, you would have to admit that we have all too often fallen into the category of the man who buried his talent, but we really do need to consider this: at least he was just wasting one talent! What will be God's response to those who have wasted twice that amount or five times that amount or even more? We just have to read the end of the parable to find out, and the conclusion is far from pleasant. But fear of punishment should not be our main motivation, for there are people in this world who are very much counting on us to use our resources and abilities in such a way as to help them.

 

In other words, we are essentially given our talents and abilities to rescue those who are perishing. We have been commissioned by Jesus our Lord to seek and save the lost. Such an important task will require time and money, but God has given us an abundance of both. Add another talent category called opportunity, and we will come to this vital understanding: God has given you all of the time and money you need to help people whenever the opportunity should arise. If you find after reflection that you have not been as trustworthy with the talents that God has given you as you could have been, then welcome to the club. The question is what will you do with your God given talents now? Your eternity, and the eternities of those you have been entrusted to help, hang in the balance. 

 

We are the "five talent man"! What will we do with those talents?