Luke 19:13 "And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come."
Without a deep explanation of this passage, I will explain it significance to us in our time. As the Lord was leaving these ten servants and gave them some money (about 13 - 15 Dollars) to continue the business or as the Lord said it "...Occupy till I come." Now while this word "Occupy" means - to busy oneself with, that is, to trade - to us in the 21st Century it would mean to continue with the tools the Lord has given us to continue in His work until Jesus returns. Do not forget it was the leaders of the first church, (the church at Jerusalem) that the Lord Jesus commissioned and commanded to carry the gospel to every man, woman, and child in the world, and baptizing them as He saved them. This order has not changed, just because times are hard and it appears that maybe the Lord is ready to return we cannot let up. We must all, every believer in Jesus Christ and every church of Jesus Christ work until Jesus returns. We better be working hard when He does return. For Jesus to return and churches and believers not working hard would be a failure on our part. We all cannot look at the times, and see the ugliness and ungodliness of the world, these are they we should be going after. As the New Year's approaches let us all, churches and believers dedicate ourselves to work a little harder getting the gospel to the world. Let us think about this word "Occupy" and continue to move forward until Jesus returns. The Lord could return at anytime or He could wait a few more years. We simply do not know, but what we do know is what we are suppose to do until He returns. We are to use the talents He has given us all and to use them to reach a lost and dying world. I know as we look around the churches here in America we see a dwindling in church size and in salvations, however, this does not tell us to slack-up because the Lord is returning soon but rather it tells us we have a harder work to perform. The Lord said in Luke 19:14 "But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us." but Jesus never told them to stop or slow down, He rather told them to keep busy. The world will always hate the Lord and because they hate Him they will always hate the Christians and churches, however, the Lord continued until He allowed them to take His life. The Lord warned us of the wicked and spoke about their future in Psalms 92:6 - 7 "A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. (7.) When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:" A " brutish man" is a stupid man and they simply do not know the Lord, and this is the world in general. and this is the reason the world has waxed worse and worse. They simply do not know the Lord, nor do they know their destination, so while they seem to " flourish" as the spring grass and the church seem to be dwindling do not loose faith in the Lord's power to bring forth a true revival, even here in America. Now we might think and say the Lord is done and His return is imminent, but we do not know the will of God until He reveals it. Please pray with me and work with me to revive the church and believers hearts to work harder in the New Year to get the gospel out to more lost sinners than we did last year. Maybe a revival in America starts with a revival of the believers and churches. I believe God is still using us in a mighty way. Even though the talents may be fewer and less powerful, it doesn't take much for God to work, remember He built the world out us the breath of His mouth. Let us not forget, the Lord is returning, where will be in this work when He returns. Luke 19:15 "And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading."
