Four Things to Consider Before You Make That Next DecisionSample

One day, Jesus told a story about the risks a wealthy man took when he puts his riches into the hands of three individuals. Each of the three received a portion of the rich man’s wealth based on their ability to handle risk wisely. The rich man heads out of town for a long trip.

When the rich man returns home, he quickly calls the three individuals together in order for them to give an account of his money. The first two individuals step forward and declare that because they took risks on some wise investments, the rich man’s money has now been doubled, which is extraordinary.

The rich man responds with praise and celebration and extends even more responsibilities to the two who managed the risks so wisely.

But the third individual took a dramatically different approach. Rather than risking the loss of the rich man’s money through investments, he eliminated all risks by simply burying the money in the ground.

The rich man responds (and I paraphrase), “What were you thinking?”

“What was I thinking? I’ll tell you what I was thinking. I was thinking you are a harsh man. I was thinking I don’t want to risk losing what is yours. I was thinking I’ll play it safe and do nothing. I was thinking it’s not worth the risk.”

All seemingly logical explanations from the third individual.

Logical? Maybe. Acceptable? Apparently not. There was no praise from the rich man. There was no celebration. Instead, all future responsibility was removed and given to the two who were willing to take risks.

Jesus ends his story with this: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him” (Matthew 25:29).

Clearly, Jesus is saying you and I are expected to do something with the talents and resources God has given us. And this involves taking risks. Those who play it safe rarely break away from a life of mediocrity. Instead, they bury their talents in the sand and fail to multiply what has been entrusted to their care.