Do Something!

One of Jesus’ better-known parables in the Bible is “The Parable of the Bags of Gold.” The story is recorded in Matthew 25:14-30. There is a man that goes on a journey and gives three servants different quantities of “bags of gold” to watch over while he is gone. One servant gets 5 bags, another gets 2 bags, and the last gets 1 bag. While the man is away the servants who received 5 and 2 bags of gold doubled their values, while the servant who received 1 bag hid it in the ground out of fear. When the man returned, he praised the first two servants for using their gold wisely and multiplying the value, while he scorned the third servant for hiding his bag and in essence wasting the opportunity.

This is a convicting story about how God gives us different responsibilities, and our job is to use what we’ve been given, regardless of the measure, to serve God and his kingdom. As much as this parable has encouraged people over the years, there is also an implicit and stern command: Do something! Far too often we live our lives like the third servant – holding everything back or maybe holding back a few special things. No matter the scale, this keeps us from fully and freely multiplying God’s resources for his glory.  Why do we do it? It’s right there in the story with the third servant. It’s fear.

Fear is a problem for us. That’s why it’s prevalent throughout all of scripture. In fact, there are 365 “do not fear” verses in the bible, one for every day. This must mean that we have a different reason to be afraid every single day, which is a reason not to be generous, not to act, not to live in faith. No matter what the reasons for our fears, the end results are the same: lost opportunities, stagnation and poor stewardship. God has equipped each of us in unique ways to make an impact for his kingdom, but instead of sharing our human and financial resources with others in acts of giving, we allow fear to hijack what could have been.

God has blessed some of us with financial resources to be truly impactful for the kingdom. God has blessed others with a unique ability or personal experience to connect with and disciple a specific people group. Still for others, God has bestowed unique skill sets that can be applied to help share the Gospel. Yet fear creeps into our lives, causing us to feel paralyzed, unable to act, and ultimately causing us to bury the gifts we’ve been given. This is why if fear is holding us back, we have to get out of our paralysis and just make a move in faith.

Do something! Embrace the measure of talent we’ve been given and do something to use if for a kingdom impact. Maybe it’s beginning to volunteer, maybe it’s taking a step to further cultivate a specific skill set, maybe it’s re-examining the home budget and identifying an extra capacity to give, maybe it’s selling something we don’t use and giving the money to the poor. The opportunities are endless. What happens when we step out in faith and invest our God-given resources in the kingdom? God steps in and begins doing great things we think are unimaginable!