According to at least one of the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ, God, the Father apparently functions as a stern master who expects a generous return on His investments. In the Gospel recorded by the physician Luke - the traveling companion and biographer of the Apostle Paul - chapter nineteen records a parable known to theologians by various titles: "The Parable of the Talents," "The Unwise Servant," "The Unprofitable Servant," "The Hidden Talent," among others. Verse thirteen ends with a direct command issued by a nobleman to his servants.

Soon departing on a long journey during which he was to receive a kingdom, he entrusted to the discretion of his servants the investment of various amounts of his wealth. When we understand that the Lord Jesus was portraying himself by the departing nobleman and depicting his followers as the servants, the parable requires only minimal commentary.

Entrusting each of his servants with one "mina" (a gold coin worth approximately twenty dollars in our time, but in biblical times an amount somewhat equal to the wages for one hundred days of labor) the nobleman charged them, "Do business till my return