What Your Schedule Says About Your Heart

“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability.” (Matthew 25:14-15, CSB)

We tend to hear the word “talent” and think of a skill—music, math, or making people laugh. Certainly, those are talents, but reducing the word to our modern understanding misses Jesus’ point. In his day, a talent was a measure of silver equal to about 6,000 days’ wages. At today’s rates, that would amount to a seven-figure sum. The servant who received five talents was entrusted with the equivalent of more than six million dollars. Even the one who got one talent still received more than a million.

Here’s the point: however small our talent feels next to someone else’s, it never diminishes the fact that we’ve been entrusted with an enormous amount. Our days, hours, gifts and opportunities did not come to us by accident, and they were never meant to sit idle.

Two of the servants understood this. “Immediately”—that’s the word Jesus uses—they went to work. They doubled the investment. But the third servant took a different path. He dug a hole and buried his one talent in the ground. When his master returned and asked for an account, the servant said, “Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground” (Matthew 25:24-25, CSB).

Notice what went wrong. It wasn’t the servant’s lack of ability, but rather his wrong belief about the master’s character. He believed his master was harsh, so he played it safe in fear instead of living faithfully with trust. The other servants who invested boldly did so because they believed their master was generous and good. Because they knew him, they gave of themselves freely.

This reveals something important about our calendars—our struggle with time is not first a logistics problem. It is a worship problem. Our time will always follow the direction of our hearts’ highest affections. If we believe God to be a curmudgeon—stingy and distant—we will hoard our hours in fear, afraid of spending them on anything that lacks an obvious return. But if we believe he is the sovereign, wise, good, and generous Master this parable describes, we can live like the faithful servants—freely, joyfully, and trusting him with the results.

So do this: look at how you actually spent your time last week. No shame—just observation. Ask an honest question: what does my calendar reveal about who I believe God to be?

Prayer:

Master, you have entrusted us with far more than we realize—hours, gifts, and opportunities we didn’t earn and we don’t deserve. Forgive us for neglecting your gifts out of fear rather than using them in trust. We don’t want the hoarded life; we want a poured-out life. We know you are good. This week, let our calendars tell the truth about who we believe you are.