Matthew 25:22-23
He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

When the master came back and asked the servants what they had done, he didn’t compare the one who had two with the one who had five. He didn’t condemn him or criticize him for not gaining five himself, but instead commended him for his faithfulness and gave him his due reward. In our lives, as in the parable, our Lord has doled out talents to each of us. He has given us abilities, resources, and spiritual gifts to be used during our time on this Earth. Not everyone gets the same amount of talents, but we are to use what we’ve been given in the Lord’s service. We are to be faithful up until the time we see Him face-to-face.

Have we done all that we can with what we have, what the Lord has given to us? Have we multiplied it and gained more for His kingdom? Have we spent and worked and toiled in order to have something to present to Him when He returns? Have we been faithful in what He’s given us to do, showing up every day even when it seems pointless or gets challenging? We should try everything and invest in anything that will produce fruit, and sometimes it just takes hard work and perseverance. Sometimes it requires sacrifices. Sometimes we lose or falter or fail, but that’s no excuse to quit.

One day our Lord will return, and we will have to give our account. Will we be able to say we did all that we could, or has something been left undone because we were afraid to try or too lazy or got distracted? Have we given up or got impatient and decided it wasn’t worth it to be faithful? Or have we kept on each day, step by step by step, moving forward in our service to Him, doing what He’s asked of us, working on His behalf?

Let’s not be discouraged if others around us have five talents and we only have two. The only servant who displeased his master was the one who buried his talent and let it lie dormant all the while. So let’s not be like that servant, but instead toil for the Master any way we can with all that we have. And when we stand before Him and He reckons with us, we’ll have the joy of hearing Him tell us, “Well done.”