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Don’t Bury Your Talent

 Not one is a thousand would recognize the name of Reginald Heber. On April 3, 1826 he served as a missionary in India. That day he preached outdoors under a hot Indian sun. To cool off, afterward he went for a dip in a nearby pool. While in the pool he had a stroke and drowned.

 A few days later his wife was going through his belongings and found in his trunk several old songs that he had written but never published. Among those songs was one that he wrote called, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty.” Since that discovery millions of people, if not billions, have been blessed by the work of Reginald Heber.

 This is not a note about what a great song he wrote, but about how he buried that song in a trunk. He had great talent, but he buried that talent.

 One cannot help wondering how many of us have done the same thing. How many of us have a song, a story, or a sermon that we have never shared? Fear is a powerful force that can cause us to bury our talent. It may seem like no big deal, but we would do well to remember the Lord’s answer to the man who buried his talent, “You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.” (Matt 25:27)

 God did not call us to sit on our opportunities or talents. The talents God has given to you is God’s gift to you. What you do with those talents is your gift to God.

 What is your talent? Use it!

HeartWord – Proverbs 22:29

“Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings;they will not serve before officials of low rank.”

It was the worse broken leg I had ever known about. What made it worse was that it was on my brother. There is an old saying, “minor surgery is done on you and major surgery is done on me.” Well, I am not him, but he needed major surgery. The doctor set his leg in a cast. It went from his foot and ran up to his hip. For two months all he could do was sit in a chair. After two months they took the cast off and put him in a special boot. For four more months he wore that big, clumpy boot. Nearly six months after the accident and many trips to the doctor, he made one more trip to the doctor.

 “Doc,” he said, “this boot is ugly and never matches anything. Can I get another boot to match it?” The doctor said, “Take the boot off and quit wearing it.” “Doc,” he replied, “all I am asking for is a matching boot.” Again the doctor said, “Take the boot off. You don’t need it anymore.”

 After six months, surgery, casts and reinforced boots, it was over. It was almost over. Well, there was one more problem. “Doc,” my brother said, “I can’t.” Then he quietly added, “I’m scared.”

 “I’m scared” are not the words of a coward. They are the words of all of us. Fear does not just make us want to wear an ugly boot, it permeates our whole life. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they were afraid. Jesus quickly called out to them, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matt 14:27) Over and over Jesus urged his followers to “Fear not.” (Matt 10:26; 12:31, 28:5; Luke 5:10; 12:5; John 12:15) and many, many other places.

 We believe in God. We trust that he will help us through the “valley of the shadow of death.” We claim that we will “fear no evil, for thou art with me,” but still we are afraid. What if I fail? What if I lose my job? What if food prices and gas prices go so high I can’t afford them? What if I? What if I?

For all those “What if” questions, Jesus has a word of encouragement – “Don’t be afraid?” When Peter tried to walk on water and then began to sink, Jesus caught him, “’You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?” When your life is tumbling in, do not doubt. Do not fear. Only trust Him.

“Nothing is going to happen to you today that you and God cannot handle.”            

Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”        

Everybody Fails!

Men fail – Women fail
Young people fail – Old People fail
Poor people fail – Rich people fail

Even you fail, I know I do.
Because everybody fails.

Since everybody fails, failure  can not be how we judge our lives.

In Proverbs 24:16, Solomon said:

“Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”

Notice from this text that both the righteous and evil man falls, the difference between the righteous and evil is whether they get up from their fall. The righteous man, the good man falls down but gets up. The wicked man falls down and just wallows in his failure.

Have you messed up? Try again.

Avoiding failing is not the sign of a righteous person.

Not giving up is the sign of a righteous person. Try, try again!

It is the Godly thing to do.
It is how we are successful in our reach for eternal life with God.
It is also how we become successful here on earth.

Maybe you know the true story of Harlan. Harlan was a sixth-grade drop out. Over his life He worked as a farmhand, a railroad worker, an insurance salesman, a tire salesman, and had a failed attempt in politics. At the end of all these jobs, he retired broke. With little more than social security checks he decided to sell chicken, more specifically a chicken recipe. He went from business to business asking restaurants, cafes, and grills to use his recipe and pay him 5 cent for each piece they sold. He tried for two years. “No, no, no,” he kept hearing. In fact, he heard 1,009 rejections before someone finally said “Yes.”

We all know him now as Colonel Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. When he died in 1980 he was a rich man, a millionaire. He failed 1,009 times, but he tried and tried again. Winners keep on keeping on. Losers quit!

Let’s go back to that beautiful text in Proverbs and put the names of a couple of people into the text. Remember the text, “Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”

Here are the two names: Peter and Judas. Both of them failed.

Peter failed. He bragged that he would never deny Jesus, but before the next morning he had denied Jesus three times. He even took an oath before the enemies of Jesus that he did not know Jesus. Feeling his failure, he wept bitterly. Jesus forgave him and a few days later Peter preached the first gospel sermon.

Judas failed. He betrayed Jesus for money – thirty pieces of silver. He regretted his act of betral and tried to return the money. When he could not and so he hanged himself. Now let’s read that verse again:

“Though a righteous man (Peter) falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked (Judas) are brought down by calamity.”

Never give up.
Failing and trying again is the mark of a righteous person.
Never, never give up!

Lonnie Davis

HeartWord – Proverbs 26:13

“A sluggard says, ‘There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!'”

NOTE: A lazy person does not see himself or herself as lazy. They always have an excuse for not doing what they should do.

 Every event in the the story of the 10 plagues of Egypt is fascinating, but I am especially taken with the second plague.

In the second plague, God brought frogs upon the land. They were everywhere. Open the door and there they were. Turn down the blanket and there are frogs! Take down a dish and what did you find inside? Frogs! … Frogs, frogs, frogs. It seems like a harmless and even humorous plague, but it was not.

 Finally the Pharaoh had enough and asked Moses to take away the frogs. Moses asked him a rather odd question, “When do you want me to take away the frogs?” If that is an odd question, then the Pharaoh’s answer is completely bizarre. He answered “Tomorrow!” (Exodus 8:10) Tomorrow? Wow! I know what my answer would have been – “Right now!” I am done with frogs. Take them away now!

 Why did he want one more night with the frogs? Maybe he wanted one more night to see if the frogs would just go away on their own. Maybe the answer is, that is just how people are. People want to put off everything until tomorrow.

 In Luke chapter nine, Jesus confronted some other “tomorrow” people. “Follow me,” he challenged, but they began pleading for tomorrow. “First let me go and bury my father.” (Luke 9:59) He challenged a second man who responded, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.” Every time Jesus called someone they would say, “Yes, but first…”

 They all had excuses to allow the themselves to wait until tomorrow. Everyone plans to do wonderful things tomorrow, but not today. Read Luke 9:57-62 and you will see that Jesus had warning words for those who procrastinate.

 That warning still rings today. The problem with the lure of tomorrow is that there is no guarantee that any of us will have a tomorrow. We must live each day and do the good we can without counting on tomorrow.

 Whatever it is you need to do, Do not try to have one more night with the frogs. Just do it!

Lonnie Davis

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