Once upon a time, there was a wealthy man who was about to go on a long journey. Before he left, he called his three servants together and gave each of them some money. To the first servant, he gave five talents, to the second he gave two talents, and to the third he gave one talent.
The man said to them, “Put this money to work while I am away. Invest it and make a profit.” Then he left on his journey.
The first servant was eager to please his master, so he quickly put his five talents to work. He invested the money and soon doubled it. The second servant was also eager to please his master, so he invested his two talents and doubled them as well.
But the third servant was afraid of his master. He was afraid of making a mistake and losing the money, so he buried his one talent in the ground and did nothing with it.
When the master returned from his journey, he called his servants together to see what they had done with the money he had given them. The first two servants proudly showed him their profits. The master was pleased and said to them, “Well done, good and faithful servants. You have been faithful with a few things, so I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in my joy.”
But when the third servant came forward, he had nothing to show for his one talent. He said to his master, “I was afraid of you, so I buried my talent in the ground. Here it is.”
The master was angry and said to the third servant, “You wicked and lazy servant! You should have put my money to work. Now you will be punished for your laziness. Take the one talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.”
The moral of this story is that we should always use the gifts and talents that God has given us. We should not be afraid to take risks and use our talents to make a difference in the world. We should be faithful with the little things that God has given us, and he will reward us with even greater things.