Called to Multiply
One of the most descriptive examples in the Bible of what God expects from us is a parable Jesus shares called the Parable of Talents or the Parable of the Bags of Gold. It shows the expectation of God on what we’ve been given. Have you considered the concept that your generous heavenly Father has some expectations about what we do? You’ll see that we’re called to multiply what we’ve been given. Let’s take the time to read through the full parable and draw a few notes.
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one, he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:14-30 NIV
Notice that Jesus gives different amounts of money to the three individuals. It is important to note that God gives resources to us in proportion to our ability. Some of that is God-given ability, and then we can also grow our ability to carry more. But, God isn’t concerned with fairly giving each person the same amount of money. Because, you notice, he doesn’t require an equal amount in return but equal effort and multiplication based on their ability and what he gave them. The one servant who saved his money was condemned as lazy. So, we are responsible not just for maintaining what we’ve been given, but we have a mandate to multiply!
Notice also that when the master leaves the employees, he doesn’t give them an exact amount they must increase by, just gives them resources and says I’ll settle up the account when I return. This is how God sees each of us. He’s given you and me talents and the power to create wealth. When we die or when he returns, whichever happens first, there will be a moment where we come before Him and give him an accounting of what he gave us and what we did with it. Will we squander it? Will we sit on it? Or will we follow the wise servant's examples and put them to work and multiply what we’ve been given?
