”A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: Whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.“
Proverbs 17:8
The gift you have should be precious to you. Using your gift adds value to you and others, improving your world.
Perhaps the gift is something inside of you that allows you to create: Art, music, mechanical competence , designing, organizing, cooking, baking, writing, story telling, construction, plumbing, engineering and tons more.
Your gift could also be something you have curated or cultivated: a coin collection, car collection, historical findings and so on. In my minds eye, I see the Smithsonian Institute and other Museums as a collection of curated gifts. I remember being at National Infantry Museum in Georgia walking through looking at Military issued clothing, duffel bags, food and other artifacts that were produced by the lowest bidder and by the thousands, or millions, but in that setting it was a path which led you to a young soldier in a bygone century trying to survive the elements and the conflict. It made history come alive. My emotions were stirred and my heart swelled with dread, pride and thankfulness for those young men, many of whom have been swallowed by the sands of time.
This is a gift.
The Author of the verse is doing much more than telling you to use your gift. You are, more than anything, admonished to find and employ gifts properly. Note the second half of the passage: “Whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.”
This word, “prospereth,” is derived from the idea of being prudent, circumspect, to consider or to cause to prosper.
When researching the passage this idea was a road block as I figured the sole purpose of prosper was prosperity. Technically it is; my definition of prosperity however, was a tad too modern. We equate prosperity with achievement or success. This word comes from the idea of- being wise, witty, intelligent and to instruct, guide or make others to understand.
It appears, to my untrained eye, we are admonished to learn how to succeed and then bring others along to find their success and repeat the process. We are not truly prosperous until we have helped others prosper as well.