great-commission-ministries.org

 PLAY  IT  SAFE!!!

THE ONE TALENT MAN 'PLAYED IT SAFE'!!!

'PLAYING IT SAFE', CAN BE SINFUL!
by john roy bohlen & John 5:30

 Matt 25:14  "For the Kingdom of Heaven is as a Man traveling into a far country, Who called His Own servants, and delivered unto them His goods.  15  And unto one He gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took His journey.  16  Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.  17  And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.  18  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money.  19  After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.  20  And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, 'Lord, Thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.'  21  His Lord said unto him, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant:  Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."  KJV

  This morning, I woke with a message unfolding and forcefully, in my mind, that I do not believe I ever really thought about before, having to do with the importance of taking sanctified risks in our doing of the will of God.

  Many times in our life, we are not entirely sure what the leading of the Holy Spirit can be.  So, at such a time, we can smugly neglect to make a decision, believing that we have chosen more wisely and safely, by remaining indecisive, than to have decided to move in doubt.  Yet, our smugness needs to disappear, in light of the truth that there are times when the Lord was calling us to move up higher.  God was not expecting us to move in doubt, but was calling and expecting and was holding us responsible to move in faith!

  Isn't this what happened to the one talent man?

  Isn't this what happened to the rest of the disciples in the boat, when Peter walked on the water?  One can criticize Peter for sinking, but let's give him credit for trying and for succeeding.  Mt.14:29

  To the rest of Israel's army and to King Saul, when David went to slay Goliath?  1 Sam,17

  - To the rest of Israel's army and to King Saul when Jonathan and his armour bearer went to slay the Philistines?  1 Sam.14

  - To the Israelites when they refused to go into the Promised Land?  Num.14

  - To the rest of the prophets, when Elijah was to be taken up?  2Kings 2

  What if Isaiah would have hesitated when Yahweh said, "Who will go for Us, and whom should We send?"  Isa.6

One reason we can become jealous of others is that they acted with courage.  Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler, Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, T.V. evangelists, etc.

  Think back on those times when you had an opportunity to act, but did not do so, because you "wanted to play it safe".  But there are times when we think we are doing the better thing by playing it safe, when, in fact, we were frozen with fear, refusing to act in faith, and, ended up refusing to do and obey the will of God, lost out on the opportunity, the blessing, and sinned.  Go ahead, make an actual list of possible missed past chances, when it is likely that God was actually LEADING you to do something that involved risk taking, was dangerous, was inconvenient, needed to be done immediately or soon, but you missed the opportunity, because time passed, the opportunity passed, the moment passed.  You lived your life wisely, you made the wise decision, the safe decision, or, rather, you simply did the easy thing, and simply decided to not decide, believing you were being wise for waiting, when in fact, you were being disobedient, fearful, foolish.

  Several years ago, some close friends of ours, saw an opportunity to purchase a piece of property for about $70,000.  Based on the Bible verse in Proverbs 31, where it brags on the Virtuous Woman, the husband told his wife, "Go and purchase that property!"  But, she was afraid, and she waited.  She waited too long, the move was too bold, and the property was sold to someone else, who later sold that same property to others, and made an incredible profit.

  I have done the same thing.  Immediately across the road to the north of where we live now, there was a lovely 40 acre piece of wooded property that was for sale at $1000 per acre, or, $40,000.  I hesitated, and began offering the man $250, then $500 per acre.  The seller sold the land to someone else who offered him what he was asking.  That buyer then sold the trees from the lovely wooded property for $10,000 or more, then sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of gravel from the land, then sold the land for many more hundreds of thousands of dollars.  That buyer made an immediate profit from his $40,000, of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  Why did I not purchase the land for our ministry center?  I was afraid.  I simply lacked the courage.

  The one talent man is an example of a person who wanted to live his life wisely and safely, so, he simply did nothing at all.  By playing it safe, he lost out on the reward, the blessing, the prize, the win, the opportunity, and, he lost out on life and freedom itself.  He lost out on Eternal blessing!

  Matt 25:22  "He also that had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, Thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.'  23  His Lord said unto him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'  24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew Thee that Thou art an hard Man, reaping where Thou hast not sown, and gathering where Thou hast not strawed:  25  And I was afraid, and went and hid Thy talent in the earth: lo, there Thou hast that is Thine.'  26  His Lord answered and said unto him, 'Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:  27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put My money to the exchangers, and then at My coming I should have received Mine Own with usury.  28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.  29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath.  30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  31  When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory:"  KJV

  Yes, I know that, in contrast to 'sanctified risk taking', there is a danger of:

  "Producing an Ishmael",  of, 

"Acting in the flesh",       of,

          "Getting ahead of God",  of

          "Acting presumptuously",

          "Making a beeeeeeeeeg mistake!"