Exodus 26:1-27:21 ~ Matthew 25:1-30 ~ Psalm 31:1-8 ~ Proverbs 8:1-11   I find that to be utterly true.  As I slow down and spend a couple days of downtime, wisdom from every corner, every crevice, every mountain peak, every valley, everywhere wisdom is calling and we will hear if we will listen, listen with ears of our hearts, slow down, jump off the world for a second as it spins like a merry-go-round and makes us dizzier and dizzier and dizzier.  If we’ll step away for a second from the chaos that is meant to just keep us dizzy and distracted, sick to our stomachs, nauseous even, and just listen, slow the whole thing down, we can hear the whisper of wisdom, wisdom calling to us.  I have the answers, everything you desire.  I have.  Follow me.    It’s interesting what Jesus said, in the parable of the talents today.  One of my favorite of Jesus’ parables, but one that never fails to hit between the eyes.  Three men are given a portion of their master’s treasure.  One, 5 bags.  One, 2 bags.  One, 1 bag, according to their talents, their gift.  Then the master says, “Invest this for me.  I’ll be back.”  Of course, the story is clear.  The man with 5 bags invests and makes 5 more.  The one with 2 bags invests and makes 2 more.  The one with 1 bag hides it in the ground.  The 2 men who sowed their master’s money using the gifting they had were able to double it.  So even though the man with 5 bags ended up with 10, the man with 2 bags ended up with 4.  From a percentage perspective, they were equal.  There was 100% return for the master.  The guy with 1 bag was scared.  He was scared to move.  He had been given resources and he had gifts and he was afraid to move, and so he buried it in the ground.  When the day of reckoning came, the 2 men who had given their master a 100% return were given more authority, responsibility, and a celebration in their honor.  The guy who buried his talent and gifting resources in the ground, he was thrown out.  That is a sobering thing.     Our master, our Heavenly Father has given us gifting, has given us resources based on our abilities.  In other words, we ‘re not asked to do something we can’t do.  We’re not given the authority to accomplish something we have no way of getting done, and yet, according to what we can do, we are resourced and sent off, and so ultimately there is a day to answer for how we used those gifts, talents, treasure, resources, everything we’ve been given.  At least, according to Jesus, he’s the one that says the kingdom of heaven can the illustrated by this story.  So it’s pretty clear that we cannot take what God has given us, bury it in the ground, and hope for any kind of good outcome.  God has called us to advance his kingdom in this world.  We are here to do just that as his ambassadors.  Pretending that we don’t have anything to do or simply not doing anything, that is not going to work out right in the end, as this parable illustrates.   Prayer:  Jesus, we come before you, understanding it is not our desire to take what you have given us and hide it in the ground.  We don’t usually do that kind of thing on purpose.  Sometimes we act out of fear or embarrassment or pride, but more often than not, we hide the treasure in the ground by being distracted or preoccupied or so full of obligation that we just can’t get to anything.  So it is with this in mind we come before you asking you to reveal to us, Holy Spirit, the things really in life that are nothing but distractions.  It is our desire to be fiercely focused and we invite you, Holy Spirit, to come.  Reveal these things to us.  Reveal the areas in our lives that are nothing more than fluff, that are nothing more than distraction and help us, Holy Spirit, to walk clearly with you down a path that is ordained for us.  This is our desire.  In the center of your will is where we want to be.  And yet that is a constant, constant jagged edge.  So help us to walk this path in the name of Jesus, we pray, amen.   www.dailyaudiobible.com is the website.  You know this.  You are invited.  Get involved in any way that you can, any way that you will and, well, you can meet the community there for that is where the community meets.  That’s our home.  I’ll tell you today, I’ll speak today about the WindFarm.    The WindFarm Prayer Room is the around the world, around the clock prayer initiative of the Daily Audio Bible.  It is what we used to host the event live where we talked to Benji Nolot from Exodus Cry and that was a great success as we raised our awareness on human trafficking.  But we are praying around the world, around the clock.  There has always been someone praying somewhere in the world in the WindFarm since the 7th of July 2009, so we’ve been at this for a little bit. If you want to listen to the WindFarm, you can do that either by going into the prayer room at the website or go to www.WindFarmRadio.com and you can tune in at any point, spend some time in prayer and worship, knowing that there are other believers around the world with you, joining you virtually.  If you want to lead in prayer at the WindFarm, we have 3 numbers set up.  In the Americas:  (877) 634-3337.  In Europe:  Country code (44) 203-318-4217 and then in Australia:  Country code (61) 2-6108-4605 is the number to call.    If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at the website or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  If you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to call.  Alright?    That’s it for today.  I love you.  I’m Brian.  I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.