Occupy Till He Comes

Dear Friends,

Luke 19:3 “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.”

I teach a death and dying course and I have for the last eight years, one of their first assignments in my class is for them to tell me if they only had twenty-four (24) hours to live, what would they do? Most of them write about the things that they would make up, and I encourage them to focus on what they can only do now. It is amazing to see how much they try and cram within those last twenty (24) hours. Jesus in the parable in Luke 19:23, says to them “occupy till I come”. Take what I have given you and put it to work.

In Ephesians 4:11-12 it says, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ and then in Roman’s 12-18, states “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them accordingly: if [someone has the gift of] prophecy, [let him speak a new message from God to His people] in proportion to the faith possessed; if service, in the act of serving; or he who teaches, in the act of teaching; or he who encourages, in the act of encouragement; he who gives, with generosity; he who leads, [a]with diligence; he who shows mercy [in caring for others], with cheerfulness.

What are you doing with the gifts and the talents that God gave you? Are you only using your gifts and talents for your own personal use? What would you do, if you only had twenty (24) hours left? Matthew 8:35-36, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Occupy till I come, work hard to build this kingdom, for His Glory alone. Each gift and talent is essential to the kingdom; someone’s life is depending on you. James 4:14, clearly states that life is like a vapor, you don’t know for sure your hour, or the hour of Christ return, so it’s necessary for you to be responsible with what he has given you. We don’t know how much time we have, so it’s important for us it carefully and wisely if we really want to hear the final “well done”. Occupy……….till He comes.

Prayer: Father, please forgive me for wasting time. Please forgive me for the opportunities and times I have misused my gifts and talents for only my personal gain. I want to do more for you, so that you can get the glory out of my life. I want to win for you, because I gain even as I die. Holy Spirit show me where to use my gifts for the kingdom. In Jesus Name. Amen

Occupying,

LMJ