Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Speaking yesterday evening at an energy industry conference in Texas, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “No country would find 173 billion barrels of oil in the ground and just leave them there.” His common-sense statement was well-received at that venue. There are, of course, a few radicals who would disagree, but most people understand that you just can’t waste such a valuable resource.

This reminds me of the parable of the talents that Jesus tells in Matthew 25. The master gave each of three servants a vast amount of money to invest for him. The first two gained a return for their master’s investment, but the third did not. He simply hid it in the ground. The first two servants were lavishly praised and greatly rewarded for their faithfulness. However, the third servant was harshly criticized and severely punished for his negligence.

The point of the story is this: We can’t waste any resource that God gives us. Our time, talent and financial resources–and all of the opportunities that we have to use anything we have for the kingdom of God–are tremendously precious! They must be used, not wasted!