[The following is adapted from the devotions I led at the arts camp in June.]
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, (Colossians 3:23 NIV)
You were created out of God’s overflowing love and are one of His beloved creations—a unique gift to the world. Through Jesus Christ, God offers each of us the free gift of salvation so that we can become His children and live in relationship with Him. But God’s plan for us doesn’t end there. He gives each of us unique gifts, talents, and a purpose so that we can love Him, serve others, and reflect His character in the world. As we build our lives on Jesus, the solid Rock that never fails, He walks with us through every joy and every storm, giving us hope and strength. Through spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible study, worship, thanksgiving, and journaling, we grow closer to Him and learn to follow His leading. He also gives us artistic gifts that can be used to worship Him, bless others, and share His truth. We were never meant to live or serve alone—God designed us to use our gifts together in community, encouraging one another and pointing the world to Him through lives filled with beauty, creativity, and love.
Those were the summaries of the first three days of devotions at the arts camp. By Thursday I really wanted to focus on servanthood. The arts can be a place where selfish ambition, low self image, pride, and other character flaws and sins impact the creation of art that honors God. So, we dove into Jesus’s parable of the talents.
Jesus told this parable: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man preparing to go on a long journey. Before he left, he called his servants together and entrusted them with his wealth. To one servant he gave five bags of silver, to another two bags, and to another one bag, giving each according to his ability. Then he left on his journey.
The servant who had received the five bags immediately put the money to work and earned five more. The servant who had received two bags also invested what he had and earned two more. But the servant who had received one bag dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time, the master returned and called his servants to give an account of how they had used what he had entrusted to them. The servant who had received five bags brought five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
The master was delighted and said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a little, so I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in your master’s joy!’
Then the servant who had received two bags came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
The master replied with the very same words: ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a little, so I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in your master’s joy!’
Finally, the servant who had received one bag came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a hard man, harvesting where you had not planted and gathering where you had not scattered seed. I was afraid, so I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is what belongs to you.’
But the master answered, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you believed that I harvest where I have not planted and gather where I have not scattered seed, then you should have at least deposited my money with the bankers so that I could have received it back with interest when I returned.'” (Matthew 25:14-27 NLT)
If you’ve studied this parable before, you’ve probably heard it explained as a contrast between the two “good” servants, who faithfully used and multiplied what their master entrusted to them, and the “bad” servant, who buried his talent instead of using it. While it is certainly true that God wants us to use the gifts, abilities, resources, and opportunities He has given us for His purposes and glory, I think Jesus is teaching us something even deeper.
One of the first things to notice is that the servants are not the owners of the talents—they are stewards. Everything they received belonged to the master. Their responsibility was to care for it, develop it, and use it wisely until he returned. In the same way, our abilities, creativity, time, relationships, resources, and spiritual gifts ultimately belong to God. We are not owners but caretakers of what He has entrusted to us.
The servants also worked for the benefit of their master, not for themselves. Their goal was to honor him by using what he had placed in their hands. Christian servanthood works the same way. Our gifts are not meant primarily to bring attention to ourselves but to point others toward God. As Paul reminds us, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
The first two servants also teach us that faithful servants use their gifts for the Master’s purposes. They immediately put their talents to work and produced a return for him. Likewise, followers of Jesus are called to ask, “How can I use what God has given me to serve others and advance His Kingdom?” rather than, “How can I use these gifts only for my own benefit?”
Another beautiful truth in this parable is that God values faithfulness more than greatness. One servant was entrusted with five talents and another with two, yet both received exactly the same commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The master did not compare their results with one another. He simply praised each servant for being faithful with what had been entrusted to him. God is not asking us to have someone else’s gifts or opportunities. He is asking us to faithfully use the ones He has given us.
Finally, this parable reminds us that servanthood requires both courage and action. The third servant allowed fear to keep him from doing anything at all. Rather than risk failure, he buried his talent. Fear often leads to inactivity, but faith leads us to obedient action. God has given each of us gifts—musical ability, creativity, leadership, kindness, speaking, building, encouraging, organizing, serving, and countless others. The question is not whether we have gifts. The question is whether we will trust God enough to use them.
The Parable of the Talents reminds us that everything we have comes from God and ultimately belongs to Him. As faithful stewards, we are invited to use our gifts with humility, courage, and love—not to make ourselves known, but to glorify the Master, serve others, and participate in the work of His Kingdom.others, build His Kingdom, and bring glory to Him.
Lord God,
As Jesus served the Father, may we, Lord, be servants of you. Create in us clean hands and hearts so that we can have renewed and right spirits to host the Presence of the One True God. May we be people who honor your intentions with our actions. Help us be humble, faithful, and courageous stewards of what you’ve given us so that our talents advance your Kingdom instead of ourselves. Help us see servanthood and development of our “talents” as a lifestyle, we ask in Jesus’s name. AMEN.