Today's Thoughts...

​Today’s Thought: There are perhaps many ways to interpret today's Gospel; one way that I have often used is to ask the questions, "What is your image of God? And are you afraid of God?" In the story the man gives his servants gold coins and says go out and trade with them. Some of the servants go and trade and make more coins. One servant hides the coin in a handkerchief, so he has it ready when the master wants it back. The servants who traded are rewarded and servant who stored the coin in the handkerchief has the coin taken away. The servants who trade took a risk, they could have lost. The third servant took no risk, why? As the story tells us because he was afraid of the master!
 
We are given many gifts from God and all we are asked to do is use them as we live out our life. I have come to the conclusion that our image of God makes all the difference in how we use our gifts.
 
If we are afraid of God, afraid of making a mistake then we probably will not take any risks with God's gifts. We will hang on to them, hide them away. If we see God as a friend, a companion, someone who takes risks, who wants us to take risks then we will probably invest God’s gifts. For example, if we see Jesus as someone who took one risk after another; if we see him as someone who invested his life every day then we hopefully will do the same. So, I believe that it comes down to how we envision, understand and live out our relationship with God.
 
Another question I often ask is, "What if the first two servants had traded with the coins and lost them?" I cannot answer the question for sure, but my guess is the master says the exact same thing, "Well done, good servant!" Why because no investment is ever lost it is always out there working in some way.  Thus, the challenge for today is to ask ourselves the question, "Are we willing to take a risk and bring God to the world today or are we going to hide God safely away?"
 
Have a great Wednesday everyone.