Hear or use the word “investment” and our thoughts will immediately turn to finances. But there are other kinds of investments.

I his poem Maud Miller, John Greenleaf Whittier wrote:

For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’

I suspect all of us have had moments when we have taken the time to look back and wondered what might have been if I had chosen differently or more wisely.

The Bible talks about taking advantage of opportunities which present themselves. “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days…In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1,6)

In Ephesians 5:16 we are told “to make the best use of your time for the days are evil.”

“What might have been” is a sad refrain to hear or say. Unfortunately, the way we live our lives often lends itself to that phrase more often than not.

The parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30 is one we are pretty familiar with. In this parable, a talent, in the narrow sense, is dealing with money. But in the broader sense it is referring to all which has been placed in our hands-time, talent, treasure- life in other words.

The real question, the real issue is simply “what are you doing with what you have been given?”

That really is a question each one of us must answer. That is the challenge I will be giving this Sunday.