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Welcome to Wilderness Wanderings.\xa0 My name is Renita Reed-Thomson, and I have the privilege to serve as a partner missionary with you at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church.

I work with many pastors across West, Central and East Africa, who are seeking to reclaim a redeemed marketplace for Christ.\xa0 One pastor in particular has inspired me as well as many of the members of his church.\xa0 His name is Rev. Dr. Johnson Asare from Northern Ghana, and you will often hear him say that it is "risky not to take risks." He is a man who has taken many risks in his life, as a businessman, a pastor, a Muslim-turned-Christian, and a community leader. He knows what he is talking about. While others have said something similar to this, hearing him say it has stuck with me because of his testimony, and I find myself repeating that phrase from time to time.

I was reminded of that line as I considered this parable from Matthew 25, where our text comes from.\xa0 This is the very familiar parable of the talents.\xa0 As it is familiar, I will not read the whole passage but will remind us that is a story Jesus tells about a man who goes a journey and entrusts three servants with different amounts of his wealth, according to his ability.\xa0 One receives five bags of gold, another two, and another one.\xa0 The first two double what they have been given, while the last servant simply buries it.\xa0 The master is pleased with the first two and welcomes them to more responsibility, while the last one gives this explanation for his lack of effort from verse 24 and 25:

24 \u201cThen the man who had received one bag of gold came. \u2018Master,\u2019 he said, \u2018I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.\u2019

This parable reminds us that it is a sin to squander what God has given us. He has given us three main resources: time, treasure, and talent, and all three work together for the flourishing of the world, for the flourishing of ourselves, and for the glory of God. This parable reminds us that we are not to wrap or bind up those opportunities and bury them for fear of losing them through risky ventures or doing things "incorrectly."

I see this over and again in my work with small and medium business leaders across Africa. Doing business is risky and I have watched many people take those risks. Unfortunately, many businesses do fail, but that is not the end of the story. There is much to be learned in those failures. In the same way, we take risks in relationships, in church, in accepting a new job, or investing yourself in your community. Living involves risk. It is an investment of ourselves to people, places, and things.

We are accountable for the investment of our lives. We are responsible to God, to ourselves, and to each other.

We may sympathize with the person who received only one talent, but we must always remember that the source of the conservatism on the part of that person was his inadequate view of God.

The servant with one bag only saw his master as someone who was "a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not sown seed."

But we must view God in His entirety.\xa0 He has given each person unique combinations of time, treasure, and talent. And He has crafted us in a way that when we use these resources with integrity and love, it is a win-win-win. When we don't use them with integrity and we confess, He forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

As I head into this day, I wonder what risks I will take with my time, treasure, and talent. I wonder which risks I will cower at, which ones I will embrace, and which ones I will bury.

My heart's desire is to prayerfully consider the risks before me, and to remember that I am accountable not just for the risks I take but also for the risks I don't take.

Be encouraged this day in taking risks for the glory of God!