Occupy Till I Come

Luke 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

Other translations say; Do business - till I come.

In other words engage in trade with what you have been given. Take what you have and put it to work. Stay busy with what I have given to you. Make this money grow. If you are in business and you are not growing you have become stagnant. It’s no different with the church. If we aren’t going foreword, then we’ve become stagnant. You can’t be both.

The Greek word used for occupy is pragmateuomai

from GSN4229; to busy oneself with, i.e. to trade:

W.E. Vines says occupy - "to walk," is sometimes used of the state in which one is living, or of that to which a person is given,

When you look at the modern church, you see it is busy as a whole, but are they accomplishing what God has given to them? Is the church occupying, or is it just setting on its laurels of past glories and waiting for the Lord to return. Is this what He called us to do? Is this what will hasten His return? Jesus said this to the church:

Revelation 3:16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.

The lord loves us more than we can fathom. I know he didn’t say this to create fear, but as an admonition. In the last days, many will fall away from the faith. Satan knows his time is short, and he’s out doing everything he can to sabotage the faith of the saints.

Matthew 24:10 "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11. "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

12. "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

He also went on to say in vs. 24. "For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

We’re in the last days, but we are also in the greatest time to be alive since the beginning of creation. No one knows the exact time of His coming, but we certainly could be a part of the generation that ushers in His return. Shouldn’t we be about the Lords business?

We are the ones called to such a time as this! Step out and take your God given place in His kingdom. Don’t be afraid. Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He wants us to accomplish certain things while we are here on the Earth but he also is one hundred percent behind us, supporting us all the way.

There will be a day when many will look back with regrets and say I could have done so much more. God gave me all these abilities and talents and anointing, what do I have to show for all of that? I don’t want to be one of those do you? I have regrets in my life and Satan has tried to hold things over my head. However, I’ve learned to not look back at my mess ups, but rather to look ahead at what I can still accomplish. I have been forgiven and I will go on! Once again I will say, if God is for me who can be against me! I will say even as the Apostle Paul:

Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

15. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

Regret can be a powerful tool of the enemy. He loves to beat God’s elect over the head with what they haven’t done, and remind them of their past mistakes. He knows that if he can keep them in a state of remembrance of their past failures, he won’t have to worry about them in his future. This can become a great stumbling block in a Christians life, and many have stalled out, unable at least in their own mind to go forward because of it.

For those of you have been there and know what I am talking about, I want to encourage you. I know what it is like to be so down because of my past that I could not go foreword. The Lord is so awesome; He has not forgotten His promises to us. When we repent and turn back to Him, He is always there to take us back, and restore lost fellowship. I was in this very place at one time in my life. I had received forgiveness for my mess ups but really thought that I couldn’t go further with my calling. The enemy was right there on my shoulder reminding me of my failures. One day as I was out in my back yard just playing around with my bonsai’s and quietly singing and worshiping the Lord, He spoke to me so sweetly, and told me this. “I have called you before the foundation of the world.” Along with the words came the revelation, He will not go back on His word to us. Whom He has called He has called, and that’s that. He absolutely will not go back on His promises. Let us as Christians receive this great grace and go forward into the future with this holy hope and expectation.