In Mathew 25: 14-30 we find “The Parable of the Talents.”  Paraphrased, It says that the kingdom of heaven is like a Master who is leaving on a trip & calls his servants to entrust his goods to them.  He gave each servant a different number of “talents” according to his ability, and then he left. The servants did different things with the talents they were given. The servant who received five, doubled them, and so did the servant who received two. But the servant who received just one, buried it, and hid the money. 

  When the master came back to settle accounts with them, the servants who invested, traded, & doubled the return, presented what they had.   The master said to them, ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter the joy of your master.’   Then the servant who had received just one talent said that he knew the master was a hard man, so he was afraid to use the talent for fear of loosing it. He told the Master he had hidden the talent but still had it to give back, saying ‘here, you have what is yours’.  His master answered, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not winnowed. Then you ought to have given my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.’ The master then took the talent back from the man and gave it to the one who had invested and profited the most. Then he banished the servant who didn’t use what he was given.

  This parable seems to have many parallels going on, and I’m not trying to touch on all of them, but one thing that seems to stand out, if we are a part of the kingdom of heaven,  is a warning to take what we have been given by the master, and use it for his purposes,.. or loose it.  Jesus begins the parable by saying that this is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like! In other words, this is how it operates. It appears that, as believers, WE ARE the servants of the Kingdom & Yeshua is that master who went away on a long trip.  So the question we should be asking ourselves is… How are we investing the talents He’s given us?

  Isn’t it interesting, in English,  how the use of the word “talents” also means skills & abilities, and not just money. The talents we have are many times exemplified in the kind of occupations we have, since we will usually play to our strengths, within our jobs. What are your strengths? Are you investing them for the Kingdom?  We are supposed to be the groundskeepers down here.

   Many of us have this idea that we are saved just because we repeated a few words, with no real follow through, while the bible clearly says faith without works is dead. We tend to forget the repent & TURN part, which clearly means changing your path. We are called to be a part in this kingdom, not just takers, and becoming complacent, as spectators, is to buy  into the lie that we should just sit on the talents we were given. Could buying this lie cost you your place in the kingdom? It looks like it did for the servant in the parable. 

  So I ask, in what kind of ministry could I invest my talents, or is it within my skills to begin one?

   I’ve noticed a void for ministry participation within the American church at large. I also took note that God doesn’t need us to reach people for Him, He does the drawing, but We are told spread the word anyway, & to even be ready to leave everything behind for this cause. So why is our involvement so called for? Could it be because this practice of putting priority & focus on Kingdom work, within His purposes, allows an avenue for a deeper relationship with us? It appears that it can help us with our own development into who He wants us to become. You may notice that as believers, we are called to disciple new believers, so what would be the best way to disciple someone? What would be the best way to get them to find a deeper relationship with our Lord, and a place in his Kingdom?? Getting them involved in Kingdom work & missions outreach seems pertinent. It also appears an important practice for believers, since this idea is repeated constantly throughout the New Testament. Faith without works is dead!

  So where are the many people who should be discipling others by getting them involved in ministry and missions work? Getting them to leave their comfort zones, build a relationship of trust with our Master, and invest their talents while evangelizing others? 

To put this all together…

 My talents seem to include businesses management and organization, with some trip planning and leadership skills. My business has also been blessed with an abundance of commercial lawn care equipment that can be put to Kingdom use, and since God has blessed the business, then I would like the business to contribute back into Kingdom work.

  So, I am launching a ministry, with the idea of discipling others by giving them an opportunity to participate in mission outreach trips, along with coaching and encouragement to become involved.

  To fund this, I am forming a group of small lawncare, landscape, and maybe handyman companies, as well as others, to come together and use our own company equipment for the purposes of maintaining the grounds of Christian church & ministry properties. The Idea is to do this work for the same price as what was previously paid by that organization, but with the proceeds going into a not for profit account to be used for winter mission trips. We tend to have better time for outreach trips in our down season, and flights usually cost less over the winter as well.

  This idea is the culmination of talents and tools I have been blessed with. It could fail, but it is in Gods hands and for His purposes, so it will become whatever He wills.  At least I will have invested the talents, He has given me, into Kingdom work, rather than sitting on them. 

Last thing,..

  If we say we believe, what does this mean? If you say that you believe there is a hurricane coming, will you start boarding the windows of your home, or will you do nothing? If you do nothing, it could be assumed that you don’t really believe in your heart that it is coming.  If you really believed, it would cause action, and this action would show that you really believe it.

So do you really believe??   

If so,.. Then Take Action!

–Nathan Short,  

–Founder of Kingdom Groundskeeping & President of Short Cut Lawn Care LLC– 

-Pertaining to Your Church Groundskeeping Decisions:- 

  For this plan, we need churches & ministries to get on board by contacting us with the amount currently being paid for your lawn services. We can then evaluate if we can take it on for the same amount, or we can give an estimate. 

  Also, if there is other work your church needs done, like plumbing or handyman services, check and see if we have a company on board that would do that work at market value, with any proceeds above cost going into this missions fund. 

  This wouldn’t be about saving money on your church budget. It’s about your stewardship of the Lords money. If you are involved in the discissions on how to use church funds (funds that were given as tithes and offerings, into kingdom work), then you are involved in how to invest the Masters talents. Are these investments geared toward producing results for the Kingdom?  With this plan, you would be funding missions work with that money, instead of merely getting the lawn mowed. You might not know what the results of this investment will be, but you can know that it has a greater chance of yields for the Kingdom than merely hiring a mowing crew for the church. This plan is a partnership for kingdom work!  We would bring the effort, and maintain your lawn, you would help fund missions, instead of just paying for lawncare.