February 8 | Bags of Gold

We have learned so far in The School of Contentment that contentment is not about our circumstances, includes important habits (saving, giving and spending less) and is threatened by comparison. It also includes something we may have never considered. Our contentment correlates with how God has gifted us and how we choose to appropriate those gifts.

This week, we examine a parable Jesus tells about a man who goes away and entrusts his gold to three servants. Each receive a number of bags according to his abilities. When the master returns, he settles accounts with them and they are rewarded according to how well they have used (invested) the gold toward the master’s concerns.

Jesus uses parables (short stories) to teach spiritual lessons. This one is about God’s Kingdom and what he expects from his people. Jesus is the master, we are his servants, and the Kingdom is where he rules. Jesus gives us gifts that he expects us to use to multiply his Kingdom. How much God gives us isn’t the issue. But how well we manage and invest what we are given will determine the level of purpose, joy and contentment we find in our relationship with God now and when Jesus returns (Hebrews 9:28).