EXPOSITION:

“All hard work brings profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23). How else do you want to make so much money, become that influential figure, fulfill your career dreams without applying yourself to hard work. So goes the adage that the heights attained by great men were not achieved by sudden flights but by dint of hard work. In the parable of the talents in the gospel of Matthew, the difference between the faithful servants and the unfaithful servant is diligence. Whereas the former servants put their talents to productive use leading to a productive outcome, the latter servant hid his talent only to return same to the master on the day of accountability. The question is, what was this servant doing with the whole time his master was away?

In the book of Proverbs also, we are admonished that the plans of the diligent lead to profit but haste leads to poverty. Obviously, the third servant did not plan what he was going to do with his talent and thus went to hide it. Without adequate and thoughtful planning, you cannot achieve much, and non-existent fear will cripple your unutilized potential. If you do not plan, you will certainly act in haste and that was exactly the predicament of the third servant when he went to hide his talent.

LIFE APPLICATION:

There is no excuse for laziness and unproductivity. You have intellectual power, put it to profitable use. You have physical strength, engage in a worthy task and that will bring you good returns for what you are worth. Do not sit idle, get up and find something doing.