The One Talent The man who received the one talent "went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money." It was the one with the smallest gift who left his talent unimproved. In this is given a warning to all who feel that the smallness of their endowments excuses them from service for Christ. If they could do some great thing, how gladly would they undertake it; but because they can serve only in little things, they think themselves justified in doing nothing. In this they err. The Lord in His distribution of gifts is testing character. The man who neglected to improve his talent proved himself an unfaithful servant. Had he received five talents, he would have buried them as he buried the one. His misuse of the one talent showed that he despised the gifts of heaven. 356

Manden, som fik den ene talent, "gik bort og gravede et hul i jorden og gemte sin herres penge". Det var den, der fik den mindste gave, der lod sin talent ligge ubenyttet. Heri ligger en advarsel til alle, der føler at deres ringe evner undskylder dem for at tjene Kristus. Hvor gerne ville de ikke tage del, dersom de kunne udføre en eller anden stor gerning, men fordi de kun kan udføres må tjenester mener de, at de ikke behøver at gøre noget. Men heri tager de fejl. Herren prøver menneskenes karakter ved at uddele sine gaver Manden, der forsømte at benytte sin talent, viste, at han var en utro tjener. Dersom han havde fået fem talenter ville han have gemt dem i jorden, som han gjorde med den ene. Ved ikke at benytte den ene talent viste han, at han ringeagtede Himmelens gaver.