What are you doing with your talent? II

Good morning to you, readers of our „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! May God bless you today and keep you from evil on this day!Yesterday we started talking about what we do with our talents. We talked about the fact that every one of us will answer for his or her life. While here on earth, we have to understand how important it is to invest ourselves into those things that do not perish, into the Kingdom of God.The world is changing very rapidly. I am convinced that new changes will come into our lives with increasing speed. If I told you about different predictions and ideas that experts have about our future, then the hearts of many people would be filled with fear. One pastor spoke to me about it and I saw his heart getting filled with fear after hearing all the predictions. He asked me what to do with all of it; is it worth making big plans if all these terrible things are inevitably coming upon the earth? I told him that – thank God – we have the Bible that contains all the answers. The Bible never says that things on the earth will improve; it says that the Kingdom of God will experience increasingly better times. So, where should we abide? We should reside and abide in the Kingdom of God; we should seek it and invest ourselves into it, so that our hearts would be in God’s Kingdom. Those who invest their wealth into this world will eventually separate themselves from their true treasure. Quite often a man invests himself – his time, his talents and abilities, his finances – solely to gain material benefits; after his death he is separated from his treasure that was so dear to him. Jesus gave His disciples wise advice not to store their treasures on the earth where there are thieves, moths and rust, but to store their treasures in heaven, for where the man’s treasure is that is where his heart will be.

«Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also» (Mathew, 6:19-21).

People that store up treasures on earth only see death as a great loss, because death makes them lose everything they have worked for their whole life, meaning, their time, finances, abilities and talents. Everything dear to this person disappears at death. But those who gather and store up treasures in heaven are never separated from their treasures, but actually get closer to them. For these people death is a gain. This was what Apostle Paul understood when he said that for him to live is Christ, and to die is gain. In other words, Paul wanted to say that his thoughts, his time, and his heart are dedicated to Christ, to His service, and that he lives for Him.A person who lives like that is moving closer to his treasures, and for him death is gain. Here is what kind of life Jesus expected of His disciples:

 «Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming» (Mathew, 25:13).

What have you dedicated your life to? Where are your treasures laid up? Choose to live for Christ and His Kingdom! Invest all your time, talents, and resources into those things that are precious to Jesus. Invest yourself into the building of God’s Kingdom!May God’s mercy and grace follow you throughout this day!Till tomorrow!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye