(Revelation 21:2-4, 21-26)
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. …… And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it”. Now that we know that Heaven is a glorious place and is the place that our God wants to be, the next question should be – What should I do to get there? The answer the Bible provides is that we should occupy till The Lord comes back again. Jesus told some parables in order to answer this question. In Luke 19:12-13 the Bible says, “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”. Jesus also told a similar parable in Matthew 25:14-30. Verses 14 and 15 read as follows “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey”. In this parable the man expected his servants to occupy themselves with the talents he gave them until his return. We know from the parable that two of the servants obeyed their master and one did not. In the parable that we read, the King there is the King of Kings Himself Jesus Christ, and the Man who gave the talents to his servants is Jesus Christ as well. The people that are to occupy till He comes are His own people – the Church. The first point we learn in this story is:
1. Nobody is born empty. We all have talents that God has given to us and He expects us to use our talents to be a blessing to our world and to His kingdom.
2. Another point is that God is going to hold us accountable for that which is deposited in us. We will give account to God on how we have used our talents.
3. Also, if you occupy now by working hard, you are diligent in what He has committed to your hand. If you are faithful to it, you are actually working for yourself because, the man who gained one pound, the Master said he should keep it, the one who gained five talents, the Master said he should keep it.
