I was studying the parable of the talents. You remember the story. A man needed to go away, so he entrusted his servants with his goods. One received five talents, another two, and the last received one. Upon his return, he asked for an accounting. The servant who received five and returned ten, as well as the one who took two and returned four, were declared good and faithful servants. But what caught my attention was the servant who received one, took care of it, and returned it safely back to his lord. I was surprised by the response of the master: “Thou wicked and slothful servant, … take therefore the talent from him, … and cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness”! (See Matt. 25:14–30.)
This seemed to be a harsh reaction to one who seemed to be trying to take care of what he was given. But the Spirit taught me this truth—the Lord expects a difference!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
The Power of One Dollar
This story will warm your heart. It reminds me of one of the talks given in the Priesthood session of Conference that I recently read. Elder Stanley Ellis says:
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3 comments:
Thanks for sharing these thoughts. That really sticks in my mind--"the Lord expects a difference!"
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family.
I have always felt the same with that story as he expresses (seeming a bit hard judgement). But thinking on it after reading your post (isn't it good what we can learn from going over things?) we are here to become like Heavenly Father to be able to do the same as him (and wife). So if we just remained as we were on getting here, how much progress would we have made toward that goal as a person? Suddenly the story makes sense.
Thanks for the post.
Mary and Doug, thanks for your comments. Mary, that phrase is going to stick with me (I hope) for a long time. In all that we do, the Lord expects a difference (that's likely what "improve our time" from Al. 34 means).
Doug, learning from each other as we go over things is one of the reasons I really enjoy blogging. :)
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