what on earth am i doing for heaven's sake?

today a friend sent me a list of the top 10 church sign sayings. the title of this entry was on the list. when i read it, i was immediately pricked in my heart. it didn't help matters when i started reading the parable of the 3 servants...actually, maybe my matters were helped...now i just need to do what i've seen...

long story short, the master entrusted his servants with his money to look after while he was gone. in his absence, 2 servants invested what they'd been given so that when the master returned he was "full of praise. 'well done, my good and faithful servant...let's celebrate together!'" the 3rd servant, being afraid to lose the master's money, hid it, and "the master replied, 'you wicked and lazy servant...why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? at least it could have gotten some interest on it?' to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. but from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away."

i've been thinking a lot lately about what i'm currently doing for God versus what i've done in the past...and what i want to do right now versus what i'm currently doing...and what i want to do in the future. boy, i'm gonna be busy if i get my act together :-) (and on a parenthetical side note, "tomorrow starts today...")

my pastor often says something to the effect of "if you're not doing as much today for God as you were a year ago, what changed?" since the start of the new year, i find i'm being challenged more and more to evaluate what i'm doing for God...not because there are negative consequences for calling myself a christian and then not working/serving/living like it--because it's not about being guilted into doing, or only doing 'cause i don't want to be punished--but because there are positive consequences when i do work and serve and live and act according who i say i am, and whose i say i am (i.e. to whom i say i belong). it's not about having to...it's about getting to...

for me, the key word is service. there's a cheesy saying, but one that rings true: saved to serve. just a few verses after the parable of the servants, Jesus explains a bit about the final judgment: "he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. he will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. then the king will say to those on his right, 'come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. for i was hungry, and you fed me. i was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. i was a stranger, and you invited me in. i was naked, and you gave me clothing. i was sick, and you cared for me. i was in prison, and you visited me.'"

the way i see it, i was saved to serve; i wasn't saved to be served. and if i'm not serving, then i have to ask myself if i'm really saved. according to the parable, the servants were supposed to be busy doing something, and being faithful in the little things. according to Jesus at the end of his instruction, those who don't feed, or don't give a drink, or don't invite, or don't clothe, or don't visit are cursed and sent away...

what on earth am i doing for heaven's sake? that's what i'm asking myself today. vesta mangun, a true servant who has been serving for decades, recently spoke to hundreds of other servants/ministers. she said something that left an indelible impression on me: "we take nothing into eternity with us...except who we are and what we've done...if we haven't done well, He won't say 'well done'...we will all stand before God unsupported by family, friends, spouses, pastors, counselors, etc. would you want to stand before Him today as exactly who you are right now and with what you've done?"

that's a pretty big "except" when i consider that i must "stand before Christ to be judged. [i] will receive whatever [i] deserve for the good or evil [i] have done" (1 corinthians 5:10 nlt). i will be accepted based on my "except." i will be accepted based on who i am and what i've done...not compared to you and what you've done, but on my servanthood and my level of service. certainly, our doing will invariably be different, and it's supposed to be because that's the way we've been designed...but the ostensible truth is that we must be doing...

"occupy till i come" (luke 19:13). this is what the master told his servants. it's an imperative sentence. the subject "you" is understood, so it applies to me when i read it. it's a command; not an option. well, i can choose not to occupy, but the ramifications are pretty clear. i need to be absorbed and employed and immersed in serving while i'm on earth...to answer the earlier question, i wouldn't want to stand before God today with who i am and what little i've done...i want to get busy, and like the first recorded words of Jesus in the new testament, "be about my Father's business." that's what i want to be doing on earth for heaven's sake.