The weather by the ocean was foggy and cold again, so Gus decided to move his food bus to a city. There was a small city nearby where there was no fog, and it was sunny and warm. Gus parked the food bus by the town square and got ready to sell food. There was one problem, the people in that city did not know about Gus, so Gus came up with a plan to let people know he was there and that he was ready to sell food. Gus hired four people and gave each of them a special job! Gus gave the first person some grilled cheese sandwiches and told her to north and sell those sandwiches.
Gus gave the second person some french fries and told him to go west and sell the french fries.
Gus gave the third person some tacos and told her to go east and sell the tacos.
Gus gave the fourth person several rolls of duct tape and told him to go south and sell the duct tape.
About an hour later the first woman came back, and she was leading a group of people who wanted to buy grilled cheese sandwiches. Then the first man came back leading a group of people who wanted to buy french fries, and right behind him the second woman brought a group of people who all wanted to buy tacos. Everything was going great until the second man came back! He was carrying the rolls of duct tape and they were covered with dirt! The man said, “I was scared to try to sell the duct tape. I thought that I would not be any good, and I was scared that someone would steal the duct tape, so I buried the duct tape in the ground to keep it safe!” The duct tape was ruined; dirt and mud were stuck to it! Gus was mad! He told the man, “I hired you to sell the duct tape, you could have at least tried! You ruined that duct tape, so now it cannot be sold at all! You are fired, and I am not going to pay you anything! Now get out of here!
That night Gus was reading his Bible and found the parable about the Three Servants that Jesus told in Matthew 25:14-30
“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last – dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
Then He ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Gus wrote in the Gus-Bus Eternal Journal:
God has given all believers certain gifts and talents. Not everyone receives the same gifts, but that does not matter. I should never waste my time comparing myself to someone else or wishing that I was as talented as them. Instead, I need to concentrate on using the gifts and talents that God has given me, to the best of my ability. At the end of this life, when I stand in front of God, I want to hear him say to me, “Well done! Let’s celebrate!”