The Great Violinist, Niccolo Paganini Willed His ...

The great violinist, Niccolo Paganini willed his marvelous violin to city of Genoa on condition that it must never be played. The wood of such an instrument, while used and handled, wears only slightly, but set aside, it begins to decay. Paganini’s lovely violin has today become worm-eaten and useless except as a relic. A Christian’s unwillingness to invest his talents may soon destroy his capacity for usefulness. I never have really understood the idea of collecting antiques. I know that there is a lot of money in that hobby, but I never have understood why someone would by something that is a classic and never use it. Have you ever watched these old car auctions on TV? People will buy cars for thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of dollars and they will never drive them. They may have a nice collectors item that everyone can “ewww” and “ahhhh” over, but they aren’t using it. The true usefulness and purpose of that car has been lost. There are many people that God has given great talents and abilities and either they are using it for the glory of God, they aren’t using it all, or they are using them for themselves with the wrong motives. God has given every Christian certain talents and abilities and His intent was that the church might be made stronger through everyone working together. That’s what Paul was talking about back in the verse we just read. When we grow our talents, everyone wins and grows too. But we have to put forth the investment.