Midweek Devotional | Matthew 25:14–30
“So I was afraid, and I hid my valuable coin in the ground.” — Matthew 25:25
Have you ever kept something so safe that you never actually used it?
Imagine receiving a packet of seeds. You could tuck it into a drawer where the seeds would be protected from birds, storms, and anything else that might harm them. Months later, every seed would still be there, exactly where you left it.
But nothing would have grown.
In Jesus’ parable of the talents, a master entrusts three servants with extraordinary amounts of money. Two put what they have received to work. The third buries his share. When the master returns, the third servant explains his decision in five revealing words: “So I was afraid.”
He hadn’t stolen the money or spent it carelessly. He had kept it safe. But fear prevented him from doing anything with what had been entrusted to him.
I wonder how often fear shapes our own decisions.
Perhaps you’ve hesitated to offer your abilities because someone else seems more qualified. Maybe you’ve held back an act of generosity because you worry about having enough. Or perhaps you’ve felt a nudge to reach out to someone but feared saying the wrong thing.
Fear can convince us that keeping everything safe is the most responsible choice.
But Christian stewardship begins with a different understanding of our lives. As Psalm 24 reminds us, “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it.” Our time, abilities, relationships, and resources are gifts from God, entrusted to our care.
And God’s gifts are meant to bear fruit.
That doesn’t mean every risk is wise or that every attempt will succeed. It means we can trust God’s grace enough to take a faithful next step.
On Sunday, we celebrated World Communion Sunday. Around the world, Christians gathered at Christ’s Table with open hands. We came not to prove what we had accomplished, but to receive what Christ freely gives.
That is where faithful stewardship begins: not with pressure to do more, but with gratitude for what we have already received.
So consider what God has placed in your hands. It may be an ability, a resource, an opportunity, or simply the capacity to offer someone kindness.
You don’t have to know exactly what will grow from it.
Sometimes faith means planting the seed, trusting God, and seeing what grows.
What is one gift God has placed in your hands that fear may be keeping you from using? What would it look like to take one small, faithful step this week?
Generous God, thank you for the gifts you have entrusted to me. Where fear has caused me to hold back, give me courage. Open my hands to receive your grace and share it with others. Help me plant what you have given me and trust you with what grows. Amen.
