Are You a Wealth Creator?
ICS Daily Devotions
Matthew 25:14-15 (NKJV) For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
Money is neutral—it is the love of money that is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). God expects you to be a wealth creator, managing His money responsibly, as shown in the Parable of the Talents.
The Greek word for talent is talanta, which means a large unit of monetary weight or value. It refers to precious metals like silver. Today, we understand it as money. A talent was equivalent to 16 years’ worth of wages, so two and five talents would be worth 32 and 80 years’ wages respectively—these are substantial sums of money, whether in Jesus’s time or ours.
Each servant, including the one with only one talent, was entrusted with a significant amount. Likewise, God has given each of us His possessions according to our abilities, and He expects us to serve as faithful stewards. The master in the parable represents Jesus, who has gone to be with the Heavenly Father, and He will return one day to settle accounts with all of us regarding how we have managed His money, which He has entrusted to us.
Psalm 24:1 (NKJV): The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.
In the Book of Genesis, God created everything in six days and entrusted all of it to Adam and Eve to care for. God made them stewards of His creation, allowing them to enjoy all that He had made.
The master in the parable expected all his servants to trade with the talents given to them, or at least generate some interest by depositing them with the bank. In other words, Jesus expected His servants to be wealth creators with what He had entrusted to them, even though He had no objection to them enjoying life with what He provided.
God is the one who gave us life by breathing into the man He created from the earth, and our bodies have been bought and redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, we ought to care for our bodies and live intentionally for Him with the resources, gifts, and abilities that have been given to us, knowing that we will be accountable to Jesus when He returns.
Reflection: How do you personally understand and view money? What fears or misconceptions regarding God are causing you to “bury” your resources instead of using them for His purposes?
Sermon Series： Are you a wealth creator?
