Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Chip Ingram
Use what we’ve been Given
In the Parable of the Talents, three people were given talents, and two of them doubled what they’d been given, but one of the servants simply buried his talent, not even wanting to use what he’d been given for God’s glory. The Master returns with some very serious words and says “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents” (Matt 25:26-28). What you don’t use, you will lose.
Work where we’re At
There is so much wisdom in realizing that God has placed us where we are at for His glory. Even a janitor can glorify God by the fruit of his or her labor. Solomon wrote, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Eccl 9:10a), and “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col 3:23-24).
Labor for His Glory
We are laborers for the Lord and for His glory, and we’re responsible for what God’s given us. He expects us to invest our time, talents, and treasures into the work of the kingdom. If we are given our daily bread, He expects us to take it, but even if we’re only given the ingredients of our daily bread, He would expect us to do the baking. What we do for Him will not be lost in the kingdom.
Conclusion
The principle that Chip Ingram wrote about, where “God gives us the ingredients for our daily bread, but he expects us to do the baking” is telling us we ought to use what we’ve been given; we need to glorify God at work, no matter what it is we do; and we should work to simply glorify God and not our own selves, as Isaiah the Prophet wrote, “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other” (Isaiah 42:8).
