“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.” [Luke 19:10-13, KJV]
Sometimes, the KJV says it exactly the way I want it heard… this is one of those times. In most versions the word ‘occupy’ is rendered ‘do business, invest, trade, put this money to use, operate…’. However, the word ‘occupy’ provides a totally different mindset. The other words used instead seem to connect easier with the fact that the owner gave them money and then gave the directions. How do you connect ‘occupy’ with the fact that the nobleman gave them money? The connection, I believe is with the context – when the kingdom of God should appear.
The Gospels, in relating this parable, come from Matthew 24:36,44 and Mark 13:32
“Heaven and earth [as now known] will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that [exact] day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone.
“Be on guard and stay constantly alert [and pray]; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.”
I believe that each day we should be attentive to the day… to not let an opportunity to be who the Lord has designed us to be, to do those things that are pleasing in His sight, to act confidently based in His Word. Yes.. we don’t know the time of His return but that shouldn’t be our focus. What’s at hand should be our focus. I also suspect that we don’t always see the multitudes of opportunities presented to us – partially because we don’t see but also we may have our eyes focused where they should be.
Personally I do believe we are in the Last Days… but we’ve seen countless examples of the Church thinking it could be ‘any day now’. And that goes back to the time of the Disciples… if you read (Thessalonians for example), the Disciples also thought it was only moments before Jesus’ return. But how were they engaged? Yes. In bringing others to a saving knowledge. They were following the command of Jesus found in Matthew 28
“Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.” [18-20]
They also remember the earlier words of Jesus [Matthew 9: 37-38] and spent their time following His directions. This is no less than what we should be doing. The occupying in my mind has a different definition… these are the times of discipling after someone gets saved. Too often they’ve been left to their own devices because we mature Christians haven’t completed the directions.. “…make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words].
The act of ‘occupying’ is a high calling.
