"For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:29-30)
I would like to consider an interpretation of this parable.
What we start with
When people are dependent on the world they sacrifice Eternity. Everything in life is a trade. We trade the only thing of value we have on this Earth: effort or the exertion we make, be it mental, emotional, physical, and so forth, to accomplish our desires. In other words, we trade our efforts to get what we want. These are the choices we make every minute of every day, trading what we have for something we value more. We can refuse to trade, just biding our time without any effort on our part to improve our situation -- this is laziness. We may do this because we don't see the value in the trade. If we don't think college will get us what we want, then we're not going to put in the effort to graduate. If we see value in a healthy body, we will put in the effort to exercise.
Whatever we are doing at any time is the most important thing to us at that moment. Our efforts, then, reveal what we really desire. Sometimes, it is important to rest, sometimes it is important to talk, sometimes it is important to work, sometimes it is important to make money, sometimes it's important to play. Wherever we use our energy indicates what is most important to us, and will determine what wealth we gain.
If we trade our efforts for the things of this world, then we can have them. What we often don't consider is what we get in return. The Macbeth's put all of their efforts into becoming king and queen and found only wasted efforts, "Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren scepter in my grip." This is the common lot of all those who spend their efforts in pursuit of the things of the world -- fruitless and barren. With any of the things of the world into which we put our efforts, enough is enough, and more than enough is a liability.
The riches of Eternity
The other option is to spend your efforts in pursuit of the things of Eternity:
1. Love -- the gifts we give to others to ease their burdens
2. Intelligence -- knowledge of truth
3. Wisdom -- the application of truth
4. Faith -- belief in and evidence of the power of God
5. Charity -- the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, pure love
6. Joy -- the connections with people, bringing others to God
All of these efforts connect us with God. In order to do this we must obey the will of God, submitting always to what He wants us to do, instead of we want to do. In order to do the will of God, we must first know his righteous will. In order to know His will we must have communication with Him. The beginning of the effort to gain the riches of Eternity, then, is to pray, and read the Scriptures.
The talent of prayer
Prayer is an essential communication that is learned over time. It is not easy, it requires great effort, as Enos relates in his own story:
"And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
...I did pour out my whole soul unto God...
...I was thus struggling in the spirit...
...and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings...
...After I had prayed and labored with all diligence..."
Enos 1:4-12
Enos gives us a good example of how much effort it takes to pray in faith, or "mighty prayer." This must be practiced every day, all day -- "continually," as the scripture says, "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." (Luke 18:1) Like any talent, it is leaned through practice. And also like any talent, the more it is practiced, the better one gets. This talent is definitely worth all of the efforts we can make, for it brings us the ability to earn the riches of Eternity.
The gift of tongues
It would not be possible to earn any Eternal wealth without the written word of God. This was so important that the "exceedingly young" Nephi was told by God to kill a very important man in Jerusalem:
"Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law. And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass. And again, I knew that the Lord had delivered Laban into my hands for this cause that I might obtain the records according to his commandments." (1 Nephi 4:15-17)
The commandments of the Lord are written by the prophets. The Word of the Lord is in the Scriptures. "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life." (John 5:39) Without this knowledge we would just wallow in ignorance. Without the "instruction book" of life, we can only guess. However, we also need to develop a talent to understand them: the gift of tongues.
Though Scripture is written in any Earthly language, they are not to be understood that way. People often argue over semantics of translation, or specific words used in one language compared to another, but this is an exercise in futility. The scriptures are written in the "tongue of angels," or the "language of the prophets," be it English, Spanish, or Chinese. The language we read is only the medium, the understanding comes from the Spirit. When we have the Holy Ghost, we can speak with the tongue of angels, and understand the language of the prophets. This takes a lot of effort, just like learning any foreign language. The effort to learn the language of Scripture has infinite value because it puts us in a position to know the will of God, or righteousness.
Eternal Increase
When we develop Eternal talents it lead to one thing: bringing souls to God. Those who spend their time and efforts improving their talents are able to give more. They develop something of value to give. If we have love, wisdom, knowledge, faith, hope, charity, or any other Godly talent it will help us to gain treasures in Heaven.
Unlike the wealth of the world, the advantage of this treasure is that more is -- more! It only gets better! "And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" (D&C 18:16) The jewels of Heaven are the children of God. These have infinite value because they go on forever. Thus, we would do well to trade our time on the Earth for these things, giving glory to the Master and doubling what we were given stewardship over.
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