A Thought: Wasted Talent

As this school year approaches I have a great deal of hope in my heart. I have a wonderful son who is now 12 going on the dreaded teens. He is very talented and smart but he hasn’t found the drive to put it into action. He is at that awkward stage between boyhood and manhood and it is my job to usher him through it safely. I feel very lucky to get to do so. Last year we had issues with him because on his tests he would do very well but he was getting D’s and F’s because he was failing to do any of his homework. He knew the material but just didn’t want to take time out of his day from playing video games to do his homework. 

I find that I meet a lot of people like that. I meet people with extraordinary talents but because they are caught up in their own lives of what they want to do they do not make the best of them. God gives us talents not for us but for others. He wants us to take care of each other and gives us each complimentary talents to help each other. Its like the old story about two rooms full of people with extra long spoons. In the one room everyone is starving cause they can’t feed themselves. The other room everyone is happily getting along because they have learned to feed each other.  

God knows that his creation works best when we love each other and get along. Loving means helping and that means casting aside what we want for ourselves sometimes. I have had some tell me that to be a Christian you don’t have to do good works. That by faith alone you can get into heaven, but I think something major is lost there. I can understand why some are afraid to help others. It takes you out of your comfort zone. But if Jesus came to earth and taught us to take care of each other and to love one another than how can we be “good” Christians if we are casting a blind eye on those in need? When you look at the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes it basically boils down to this. Love the Lord your God with all your body, mind and soul and love each other as you would want others to love you. What good are my talents if I don’t use them? It seems like I would just be throwing away perfectly good food when there are so many hungry and alone in this world. 

Matthew 5:13-16

13"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. 14"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. 15Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.