IDEA: We make decisions, and they turn around and make us.
TEXT: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents beside them.'" His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth' " (Matthew 25:14-30).
PURPOSE: To have listeners consider how big decisions make many other decisions for them.
Have people ever given you credit for living from the inside-out, when in reality you felt you were living from the outside-in?
Read the story that Jesus told about two successful investors (Matthew 25:14-23).
I. How do you think they doubled their money?
One thing they might say is, "The owner gave me the nut. If he hadn’t given me a million dollars, I wouldn’t be any place."
Or, "When I got it, I got busy investing it right away. What does that mean? It means that I took advantage of opportunities. I didn’t make all this money in an afternoon. It came over a period of time."
In recent years brokers have been able to make a great deal of money for their clients. They take credit for that, but there are factors outside themselves that enabled them to make the money.
They have to have some ability, but opportunity must be there in the market.
Much of life is that way.
Our decisions that are crucial may seem no more deliberate than a dog sniffing its way down the street.
But it’s possible that the decisions that you make on the spur of the moment could have been years in the making.
When you know what you are about, it’s amazing how many opportunities come along. These two men knew what they were trying to do.
II. What decision did the third man make that caused him to miss out on major opportunities to please the master?
He decided to take no risks and to play it safe.
He was more concerned about protecting his own interests than those of the owner.
III. What does all of that have to do with us today?