Are you Sitting Comfortably? Use it or Lose it.
Jesus gave lots of analogies or similes to show his disciples what the Kingdom of heaven is like. On a particular occasion, he was teaching them in private about when he would return from heaven. He said no-one but God the Father would know WHEN (not even the angels or even he himself! (See Matthew chapter 24 verse 36). Because of this he told them they should always be ready.
He also told them what the Kingdom of Heaven would be like at the time of his return, telling them what I call the “use it or lose it” parable.
You can read this here and it is strong stuff! Whatever we have been given - money, gifts, skills, abilities etc - is sown into us by God. We are expected to invest it for the Kingdom without delay. Boldly or not, with an abundance or a little, remembering a Kingdom has a King!
So what is the Kingdom of Heaven like?
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IN THE KINGDOM THERE IS A KING!
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IN THE KINGDOM WE WORK FOR THE KING… AND SHARE HIS HAPPINESS!
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IN THE KINGDOM WE SHOULD BE READY FOR THE RETURN OF THE KING AT ALL TIMES.
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IN THE KINGDOM WE SHOULD GLADLY ACCEPT ALL THAT WE’RE GIVEN. AND AS FAITHFUL SERVANTS TO A GENEROUS KING WE SHOULD WANT TO INVEST WHAT WE’VE BEEN GIVEN BY HIM FOR THE GROWTH OF HIS KINGDOM – A KINGDOM MARKED BY HAPPINESS AND HIS DESIRE TO SHARE IT WITH THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIM!
Have a go at using your gifts. After all it’s a case of use it or lose it eternally! So how are you investing what you’ve been given….
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Spiritually – we’ve been given so much by our Christian forebears – including translations of the bible into English, and the ability to worship freely, in nice buildings.
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Physically – how’s your body, your “temple of the Holy Spirit” (as the apostle Paul called it) doing?
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Mentally – Are you feeding your mind? What are you using it for?
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Relationally – How are you investing in the people God has given you? Marriage, your kids, your job, your friends and colleagues?
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Time and Finances – are you investing them for the King?
Do we invest what we have been given or squander it, or horde it for ourselves? We will be rewarded accordingly. Investing in our church ministries makes it easy for us as individuals to see growth locally and overseas. Like a deposit with the bankers!
Don’t blame others for what you do or don’t do with YOUR gifts. Sometimes it takes courage, pain, a leap of faith. Sometimes you make the leap and don’t make it and it gets messy – I can think of examples at church!
It’s been said that to make an omelette you have to break a few eggs but you need a variety of other ingredients too. To make a life you have to use all you’ve been given. And to make a life-changing church we can’t ask everyone else to bring their ingredients but fearfully hide away our own. It’s “use it well or lose it eternally, gang. And there’s no need for us to be fearful when we use what God has given us out of his own wealth. “For whoever has, will be given more, and they will have an abundance.”