Text: Matthew 25:14-29
Memory text:
“And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It’s been said that fear is the distance between a man and God. Fear will disqualify a person before God. In fact, God puts the fearful as the first on the list of those who “shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Rev‬ ‭21‬:‭8‬ ‭KJV‬‬). Fear will not only impact a person negatively, but it is also a grave sin before God.
Our Lord Jesus also showed this in His parable of the talents. The servant who received one talent, rather than trading with it to increase it like the other two servants or at least keeping in the bank to get interest on his savings, went and buried it in the ground. His excuse for this foolish action was this: “I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back” (Matt 25:25). He wasted the treasure. He wasted his potential. He wasted grace!
Many will miss eternity not because they didn’t believe or because they committed other sins but because they wasted the grace that they received. They wasted the grace they received to impact their families and their generations. They came, saw, conquered nothing, and returned unused! They were born to be great, but they died as ordinary! Their generation waited in vain for their manifestation! They just received the grace in vain.
Paul, having received grace, boldly declared that he didn’t receive the grace in vain but laboured hard with it (1 Cor 15:10). He confronted all fears through the power of faith to bring the gospel to the unreached and the unaccepted and to the high and low people of his time. He recognized that there were many adversaries, but he never turned back in fear. He even charged the Philippians not to be alarmed or intimidated by their opponents in any way or for any thing, but to be constant and fearless at all times (Phil 1:28).
He said to the Corinthians, “I’d be most happy to empty my pockets, even mortgage my life, for your good.” (2 Cor 12:15 MSG). He indeed gave all he had for the gospel. He died empty and with great fulfillment. Towards the last moment of his life, he was confident to say that he has done his best in the race of life and has run the full distance (2 Tim 4:7).
Friends, don’t let fear endanger your eternity with God. Don’t bury your potential out of fear. Don’t go back to your Maker unspent. Don’t be a waster of grace!

Prayer points
1. Father, please, deliver me from fearfulness and cowardice and anything that can endanger my eternity with You, in Jesus’ name.
2. I refuse to bury my talent, ignore my potential, and waste God’s grace out of fear in Jesus’ name.

Today’s declarations
1. I won’t receive God’s grace in vain, but through faith, I daily conquer all fears and obstacles.
2. Through faith and fearlessness, I will do my best, run the full distance, and fulfill my ministry.

Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng