Ephesians 4:7 KJV
“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”
The Parable of the Talents that Jesus told says much about how God expects us to progress, especially regarding our spiritual lives (Mat 25:14-30). To begin with, in the Parable, the master gave different quantities of talents to his three servants: to one he gave five talents, to the other he gave two, and to the other he gave one. This was not based on any form of bias, but the master gave “…to each according to his own ability” (Mat 25:15 NKJV). He had known each of their abilities so well, and his actions were based on fairness: not to give too much to one who wouldn’t handle, or to give too little to one who could handle. Each of them simply had different abilities to manage.
In the Parable, the master made no mention of what the servants were to do with his talents. However, wisdom made the difference between who did what with the quantity he was given. The very fact that the master demanded the servants to report upon his return, is indicative of the fact that he expected them to do something with what he had entrusted to them. The Lord Jesus takes the place of the master in the Parable. It is He who “…ascended on high…and gave gifts to his people” (Eph 4:8 NIV). As our Master, the Lord knows us so well; and the Word says, “…unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”, as in our text.
The measure of grace—to be effective and progressive in the gift we have each received from the Lord—is sufficient and already at our full disposal. In our case, the Master has even already made it clear that “…I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done” (Rev 22:12 NIV). In that regard, the Scripture says, “…So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly” (Rom 12:6-8 NLT). Hallelujah!
Pst. Emmanuel