At the wedding in Cana, the wine ran out. Our natural lives are like that wedding. As children we suppose we will grow up to be movie stars, famous basketball players, nuclear scientists, or at least, President. But then, the wine runs out. We grow up and find that others are richer, prettier, more agile or popular, or smarter. It’s embarrassing and depressing to admit that we don’t have more wine. What will the others think? What will we do with the rest of our lives now that we know we are less than we thought we would become?
The wine of natural life runs out even if we do become all we wished to be when we were little children. Movie stars get wrinkles, athletes lose a step, scientists get old and goofy, and ex-presidents are thrown out of the world’s spotlight as guidance and protection are sought from new leaders.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit(Eph 5:18NASB). The wine of the world is intoxicating in the beginning but runs out in the end. Conversely, being filled with His Spirit brings the creation of sweet and luscious fruit in our lives. Galatians 5:22b-23b reveals that the …fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is nothing offered by the world that compares with love, joy and peace.
You are unique and extremely valuable to Christ. The honor He offers you in making you His own
child will not be taken away by another.
Each person lives in the direct sunlight of his/her Savior’s love. You will not be shoved into the shadow of
another. The Lord knows how many talents
He entrusted to you in this life, and will honor you for your faithfulness in
using them. He is responsible for the
number of talents you received; you’re not. To one he gave five talents, to another,
two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability(Matt 25:15aNASV). There will be an accounting of our
faithfulness. The
man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he
said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
"His
master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful
with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your
master's happiness!'
"The
man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with
two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
"His
master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful
with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your
master's happiness.’
"Then
the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that
you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you
have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in
the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
"His
master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I
have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit
with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with
interest.
"
'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and
he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be
taken from him. And throw that worthless
servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth(Matt 25:20-28NIV).'
If we live on this earth by breathing the air God gives us,
blaspheming Him with concepts created in the brains He has provided, and do not
honor Him with our lives, we are worthless.
What made this last servant worthless to God was not his lack of talent,
but his slanderous ingratitude. At the
end, when he had used up the life he had been given, he despised the One from
whose hand he had been fed. It is
fitting for God to have given his one pitiful talent to someone who had been
faithful with ten. The temptation to take
credit for one’s own worth may be greater for a ten talent Christian than another
who was only asked to manage one talent. ...From
everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who
has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked(Luke 12:48b).
If the wine of your natural life has run out; your friends
have surpassed you, you just never did get physics, you’re too short, or you’ve
got a wart on your nose, rejoice! Drink deeply of God’s Holy Spirit. As a child, you imagined that you would be
special. You are more special to God
than you imagine. Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not
one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. So don't be afraid; you are
worth more than many sparrows (Matt 10:29-31 NIV).”
You are most precious to God. And even if you never get the applause of
this world, if you remain faithful to Jesus you will hear, before throngs of
angels in heaven,
`…Well done, good and faithful servant! You
have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your master’s happiness (Matthew 25:23NIV)!’