Monday, June 6, 2016
One of Jesus’ parables started out this way: “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 19:12-13 KJV) Although other translations of the bible don’t use the word “occupy”, to me this parable has a clearer meaning because of it. It speaks about the duty of Christ’s servants and the original Greek word for “occupy” used by the writer signifies “be busy.” Other versions, like the NIV, say it this way: “put this money to work until I come back.” The reason the word “occupy” is more meaningful to me is that it immediately reminds me of the Spanish word, “ocupaos” which means……….. “be busy!” There is an old phrase people don’t use too much anymore which says that “idleness is the devil’s workshop.” There are even some who think it is a bible verse. It is not, but I believe it is a valid premise. To me, it means that Satan works more in the lives of those who are not busy doing meaningful things.
I was thinking of this parable recently, and particularly of the word “occupy” when I heard of a certain person who is going through a rough stretch due to depression. One of the best medicines for anybody going through a difficult trial is to be busy. When we are busy doing important or necessary things, we take our focus off our troubles and focus on the task ahead. We start thinking about someone or something else and many times, without realizing it, we forget all about our personal problems.
If you have found yourself going through a trial which is hard to cope with, or if you realize there is not enough meaningful activity in your life, the best thing to do is to get busy doing something important, necessary, or positive. When you do, you just may be helping someone else who is dealing with their own burdensome issues. In fact, if you can spend some quality time with someone who is down in the dumps and find something positive, or even just nice, you can do together, it will do you both a world of good.
Memory verse for the week (1 Peter 5:8) “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
