Exposition
A talent is a natural ability or quality. It also refers to an unusual innate ability possessed by a person in some field or activity. Talent here is taken as any gift, natural or spiritual, that the Lord bestows on the Christian. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away (Matt. 25:15).
In the Parable of the Talent, the Master gave the talents to each of them according to their ability. In other words, he gave each of them the ability to perform the duty that had been assigned to them within a specified time only known by the master. When the Master returned, it was the day for each one of the servants to render an account. He called them to account for the manner in which they had faithfully improved their talents.
As Christians, we have been entrusted with specific talents or gifts (both natural and spiritual) by God. God distributed these gifts according to our ability for the purpose of building up the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:4-7).
The two servants who put their talents to work each brought their report. For the one who was given five, he had worked to gain five in addition. Similarly, the one who was entrusted with two had worked and gained two in addition. They received the same commendation although they were not given the same talents (Matt. 25:21, 23).
Finally, the servant who was entrusted with the one talent came with his report. In summary, he went and hid the talent in the ground due to the wrong perception (fear, ungratefulness and jealousy) he nursed in the heart for his master (Matt. 25:24-25).
From the one talent, it becomes clear that every gift or talent is very important to God and humanity. So burying your talent and making it redundant is a great disservice to yourself, your family, to the church and the nation. Putting your one talent to work can grow and make a tremendous difference. We should endeavour to make use of every gift the Lord has given to us. Once we are faithful to one talent, many will be entrusted to us and we will eventually end up appearing before kings (Prov. 22:29). What one talent do you have? Are you putting it to work?