Our Talents--They're from God

Leonardo da Vinci was a man of many talents. He was a botanist, an inventor, an astronomer, a painter, a writer. But what would have happened if he hadn't developed those talents? Think of how much would have been wasted. Look at all he did. If he hadn't tried, and committed to his education we wouldn't have Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, or any of his notebooks! We also need to develop our talents.  

In the parable of the Talents, the Lord (symbolic of Heavenly Father) gives his servants (us) talents. Some of the servant use their talents, and gain more. Because of their work, the Lord gives them places in his house. But one of the servants was afraid, and hid his talent. When he showed the one talent to the Lord, the Lord was angry with him for wasting it. He didn't waste it by losing it, he'd lost it by not using  it. Why would Jesus share this parable with His followers, and with us? He did it because He knew that we would be afraid; that we would want to hide our talents. Maybe we think that we don't have talents. Maybe we see others developing their talents, and they seem to be the best, and there's no way we can catch up with them. All those reasons show fear, but we don't have to be afraid. We need to pursue our talents. Dr. Posin said, "Perhaps the development of whatever talent there is counts for more than just having a talent." 

What are some talents that i  want to develop? Well, I want to learn the constellations; I want to read a lot of books; I want to be a writer and a teacher. In order to develop these, I need to look for people who have those talents, or books that teach about those talents. I also need to commit to develop them, otherwise I could just drop them any time, and that is not what talents are for.  

Every agood bgift and every perfect cgift is from above, and dcometh down from the eFather of lights. ... (-James 1:17KJV) Isn't that a nice thought. Your talent, your gift, has come from God. He gave it to you to use, to develop. If you don't use it, it's like throwing a present, unopened, into the garbage. So develop your talents, and I'll develop mine, and together, we can become like da Vinci. Even better, we can give some of our talents to our Heavenly Father, and help His other children do the same.

(this is a video about a young man who worked at a talent he wanted, and really succeeded with it)