The value of the Biblical “Talent”
Taken from The cure for the common life – by Max Lucado, pages 54-55
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. (Matt. 25:14-15)
Before “talent” meant skill, it meant money. It represented the largest unit of accounting in the Greek currency – 10,000 denarii. According to the parable of the workers, a denarius represented a day’s fair wages (Matt. 20:2). Multiply your daily wage by 10,000, and you discover the value of a talent. If you earn $30,000 a year and you annually work 260 days, you make about $115 a day. A talent in your case is valued at 10,000 times $115 or $1,150,000.
Place this in perspective. Suppose a person earns $30,000 a year for 40 years. Her lifetime earnings are $1,200,000, only $50,000 more than a talent. One talent, then, equals a lifetime of earnings. This is a lot of money and a key point in this parable. Your God-given design and uniqueness have high market value in heaven. God didn’t entrust you with a $2 talent or a $5 skill. Consider yourself a million-dollar investment – in many cases, a multimillion dollar enterprise.
God gives gifts, not miserly, but abundantly.
And not miserly, but carefully: “to each according to one’s unique ability”. (v. 15)
Remember, no one else has your talents. No one. God elevates you from common-hood by matching your unique abilities to custom-made assignments.
Ref: http://www.MaxLucado.com Back to FireQuillPublications.com
This is true, the key to this parable is not in the money but in the ability God gives us. The word ability defined.
Strong’s Ref. # 1411 dunamis Pronounced doo’-nam-is
from GSN1410; force (literally or figuratively); specially, miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself):
The word ability sheds all the light we need on this subject. There is no connection between talents (money) and spiritual gifts. The connection to gifts comes from the word ability which means, “miraculous power or miracle.”
You can see the complete study at:
http://adventbiblestudy.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/parable-of-the-talents-matthew-25/
Thank you for sharing.
you right! I thing it is urgent to change the perspective we see our circunstances and values of earthly life. We have abundant potential in our hands. We need to see “His way of doing things in the universe, included us”