Inspired by Luke 19:11-27
"I was afraid of you because you are a hard man...."
"You know that I am a hard man, taking what is not mine and reaping what I have not planted. Well, why then didn't you put my money in the bank? Then I would have received it back with interest when I returned.... Take the gold coin away from him and give it to the servant who had ten coins... I tell you, that to every person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him."
Fear is the biggest obstacle to prosperity. The man paralyzed by fear will even fail to judge with his common sense. The man in the gospel was filled with so much fear for the master who gave him the gold coin that he simply buried the coin. He forgot the instruction of the master before he left, "See what you can earn with this while I am gone." The master strictly instructed that he earn something from that single coin but because of fear, his thought was stuck to simply returning the gold coin to the master.
At a glance, one would immediately see the significance of the gospel reading in terms of finances. Indeed, if you want your money to earn... you must invest what little you have instead of keeping it in a mere savings account where the interest rate is not enough to offset the inflation rate. If you are afraid of risky investments like the stock market or real estate, then at least have the common sense to put your money in the most conservative of all investments... high-interest time deposits or retail treasury bonds. You are assured of not losing your principal and you know how much you will earn every period. Otherwise, what little money you have in your savings account will eventually be gone because it will be very accessible to you due to the presence of ATM cards and automatic debit cards. Have the common sense to put it somewhere less accessible and with higher earning potential.
But there is another view into this gospel. All of us are gifted at the very least with a single skill, a single talent, a single opportunity. However, each deals with this skill, talent or opportunity in different ways. Some deny the existence of such skill, talent and opportunity. That is the most pathetic of all. Others would take an effort to discover, improve and develop that talent or skill further in order to benefit not only themselves but also other people. And from there, they soon learn that the skill and talent have the capacity to multiply to create more opportunities for themselves. Still others would simply remain timid and keep the skill and talent to himself for fear that people will not value that skill or talent. Such fear keeps him paralyzed and stagnant. Year after year, there is no improvement. Sooner or later, he will find himself not only stagnating but also deteriorating. What was given to him is now being taken away from him.
If you do not use something, it will atrophy. Just like the muscles of your body, if you do not walk and run but instead just remain in bed, after a year or two, your leg muscles will degenerate. It will reduce in size and will eventually weaken until you lose the ability to walk. Therefore it is very important to know yourself, your skills, talents and abilities so you would know how to invest in these and maximize your potentials to the full so you can live a full and abundant life.
"I was afraid of you because you are a hard man...."
"You know that I am a hard man, taking what is not mine and reaping what I have not planted. Well, why then didn't you put my money in the bank? Then I would have received it back with interest when I returned.... Take the gold coin away from him and give it to the servant who had ten coins... I tell you, that to every person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him."
Fear is the biggest obstacle to prosperity. The man paralyzed by fear will even fail to judge with his common sense. The man in the gospel was filled with so much fear for the master who gave him the gold coin that he simply buried the coin. He forgot the instruction of the master before he left, "See what you can earn with this while I am gone." The master strictly instructed that he earn something from that single coin but because of fear, his thought was stuck to simply returning the gold coin to the master.
At a glance, one would immediately see the significance of the gospel reading in terms of finances. Indeed, if you want your money to earn... you must invest what little you have instead of keeping it in a mere savings account where the interest rate is not enough to offset the inflation rate. If you are afraid of risky investments like the stock market or real estate, then at least have the common sense to put your money in the most conservative of all investments... high-interest time deposits or retail treasury bonds. You are assured of not losing your principal and you know how much you will earn every period. Otherwise, what little money you have in your savings account will eventually be gone because it will be very accessible to you due to the presence of ATM cards and automatic debit cards. Have the common sense to put it somewhere less accessible and with higher earning potential.
But there is another view into this gospel. All of us are gifted at the very least with a single skill, a single talent, a single opportunity. However, each deals with this skill, talent or opportunity in different ways. Some deny the existence of such skill, talent and opportunity. That is the most pathetic of all. Others would take an effort to discover, improve and develop that talent or skill further in order to benefit not only themselves but also other people. And from there, they soon learn that the skill and talent have the capacity to multiply to create more opportunities for themselves. Still others would simply remain timid and keep the skill and talent to himself for fear that people will not value that skill or talent. Such fear keeps him paralyzed and stagnant. Year after year, there is no improvement. Sooner or later, he will find himself not only stagnating but also deteriorating. What was given to him is now being taken away from him.
If you do not use something, it will atrophy. Just like the muscles of your body, if you do not walk and run but instead just remain in bed, after a year or two, your leg muscles will degenerate. It will reduce in size and will eventually weaken until you lose the ability to walk. Therefore it is very important to know yourself, your skills, talents and abilities so you would know how to invest in these and maximize your potentials to the full so you can live a full and abundant life.
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