3669 - One's Talents

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 20, 1912

3669 — One's Talents

If a person has ability and desire to draw, is that his talent? and should he place himself under an instructor, and improve and develop his skill, and use it to the glory of God? A. K.

It may be, and it may not. Our desire to do things is not always the thing that God can use best. One's ability should not be confounded with talent in the sense of Scripture. In common parlance, we often use "talent" in the sense of ability, but the talents in the parable represent spiritual gifts, as will be seen by comparing that parable with the instruction which God has given in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. The talents and the gifts were given at the same time, for the same purpose, for the same length of time, by the same One, our Lord Jesus Christ, when He ascended on high. The talent is not of our choosing. God bestows His gifts as He will, and not as we will. 1 Cor. 12:11. Sometimes the very thing that He chooses, is the thing that is repugnant to the natural heart, and yet He knows our ability a great deal better than do we, and knows much better than do we what gifts we can use. A desire which we might have might not be the best thing for us. It simply, if developed, might bring glory and praise to us, and yet no good to Him. And we may entirely overestimate our ability in that direction. There are thousands who love drawing and painting, and have an intense wish that they could do that. There are many worldly reasons why this wish should be fostered. There are always friends enough who praise the most ordinary kind of work, and flatter him who does it, in both poetry and art. The only way for the Christian to do is to lay all before God, count all but loss, and receive from Him that which He can use best to His glory.

You may ask how that may be determined. One of the very best ways to determine it is to do whatever comes to our hand to do, whether we like it or not — do it for the Master. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." In that very thing we may develop in an astonishing way to ourselves just the very work to which we are called. And then we will not take glory to ourselves, but give all the glory to God.