- Matthew 25:14-30 Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
Like the [servant] who received five talents and the other who received two talents in scriptures, [you] must proceed with diligence, positivity, and zeal. If [you] are faithful and enthusiastic, [you] can generate talents on your own. Truthfully speaking, even if you yield profit through faithfulness, you are still small before the Lord.
It is a must that you bring profit while living on earth to be able to eat, drink, and enjoy with the Lord when you go to heaven. People are truly curious what talents God have given them in their lives. If you are curious, don’t leave it as a puzzle, but draw yourself close to the Lord and love Him so that He will tell you what those [talents] are. Do you know what is the talent this year? [It is] ‘Evangelism; saving lives.’
Saving lives through evangelism should become our hobby and specialty, and we should do it, enjoying and rejoicing over it. [We] should do it out of ardor. [You can] produce talents only if you do it, while completely engrossed in it, being crazy about it, and not even being aware of time passing.
It is only natural for us to save lives as the bodies of the Lord, since our lives were also saved. Still, the Lord said He would not just be watching those who make efforts and work hard, [even] shedding tears. You need to shock the Lord with evangelism in order for the Lord to shock you [with blessings]. You have to make up your mind to evangelize 1,000 people, then you will manage to evangelize 100. If you make a resolution to evangelize several hundreds of people and do your best, you can evangelize dozens of people in the end; if you are determined to convert dozens of people, you end up bringing a few people. Human beings take action according to their thoughts and determinations.
In this year also, [let us] run and dash, faithfully and zealously, without burying the talents we have, which is called “Evangelism; saving lives” in the ground. In [today’s] main scriptures, the servant who failed to make even one talent was cast out by the master. I encourage you to make five other talents or two other talents, according to [your] abilities and missions. The scriptures record that the one who received five talents and the other who received two talents doubled what they had been given. To the person who didn’t make even one talent, the master spoke sternly rebuking, “Why did you bury the one talent you received and produce no gain?” In reply, the servant who received the one talent said, “You are a hard man; I knew that you reaped where you had not sown and gathered where you had not scattered. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.” He misunderstood the master, who replied, “You wicked and lazy servant, did you know that I harvested where I had not sown and gathered where I had not scattered? If you had have given my money to someone who would borrow, I would have gained interest at least, wouldn’t I? You foolish one, useless one! Give me the one talent!” and the master drove him out into the darkness.
In order to evangelize, first, [you] need to know and be able to explain the Bible correctly as well as properly know and teach about this time period. If you just told them to believe in Jesus, people would not have much curiosity. They’d just say, “I believed before, but it was not fun. It was nothing special.” They could not believe in the Lord well because no one taught them the Bible correctly. In order to evangelize, you should be able to persuade and move people. In evangelism, you have to receive a mission and inspiration from the Lord in order to move others. You need to heal their illness, comfort their wounded hearts, and treat them with love. Treat the physically ill as well as those who are sick in heart, as if the Lord [Himself] is evangelizing them. The Lord accompanies the evangelist. Those who have evangelized aren’t desolate or lonely. If you receive the talents of lives and evangelize and take care of the lives that belong to the Lord, you will not taste dullness of life. The Lord said, “Bear witness for Me to those who will go to hell after living in the domain of death without knowing Me, and bring them out of the domain of death and the realm of hell.” Evangelism is to clearly teach and help those who don’t believe in God out of ignorance, to gain realization. When you talk to them, [you find that] they really are ignorant. Even if it is hard for your body, choose the path of life so that your spirit will be safe.
As for today, [the Lord] said, “Immediately take action with the talents you have received.” Each one of you has your own talents of missions. If you are inspired to do certain things, ask the Lord and put it to action right away. If you don’t take action but bury it, you become a useless one. Those who don’t take action are the ones who bury their talents in the ground. Those who make more talents are those whom the Lord accompanies.
I bless you in the name of the Lord to work together with the Lord.