[ Today's Readings ]
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
We aren't necessarily people whom the world would rank highly. We often don't meet those criteria for success. Even so God still delights to make use of us. He likes how it is more obvious in that his power is at work in those who "count for nothing"
On our own we can do nothing (see John 15:5). Those whom the world regards as nothing tend to have internalized this truth. We need to also internalize the truth that we can do all things through him who strengthens us (see Philippians 4:13). His power does work in us. He gives us talents to put to use in his service. There is something uniquely given to each one of us to do for the kingdom of God. It doesn't come from our human abilities. It comes from the grace of the master. We have it, but we can still squander it if we choose.
Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
We must not squander the grace Jesus gives us. Even if we are not as gifted as other people seem to be we are not off the hook. We can't excuse ourselves and say that the calling to spread the kingdom only applies to others. Understanding that we start off as nothing must not diminish our confidence that God can work in us.
We may not start off with wisdom but Christ is willing to be our wisdom if we simply trust in him rather than ourselves. We can't allow ourselves to fall back to fear that we will squander the gift. The gift itself prevents that if we just trust the one who gives it.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
Let's invest in the kingdom today with the graces we are given. The world may not regard our contributions as significant or impressive but in God's eyes they are irreplacable
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