While we wait-the ABC of waiting
by beatrice ofwona

The kingdom of heaven is described in Mathew 25:14-15, "Again it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability." What the servants had, they had received from their master. 2Peter 1:3 talks of God's divine power which has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Anything we can claim from salvation is from God. Ephesians 2:8 talks of the gift of faith that has been received from God and which has helped us to be saved by grace. What then do we do while we wait for our Savior to come for us?

Firstly is to ACKNOWLEDGE that salvation is a gift from God and this helps us to love Him. He is the pillar on which we lean, the rock on which we stand, the one on whom we place all our hopes. Although everything in the world must be worked for and earned, salvation is for free. But it entails that those who want to come to the knowledge of the Father must do so through the saving knowledge and acknowledgement of the Son Jesus Christ. It is in appreciation of this special gift from God that we can wait patiently for Him. And as we wait we do so in the righteousness of Philippians 2:15, "So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe". And we get divine power to say no to unrighteousness and pursue godliness as promised in Titus 2:11, 'For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men'. We all have the ability to get saved because salvation is by faith and not works.

Secondly is to BEAR THE FRUITS of salvation. We are not meant to bury our salvation for ourselves. In the account of Mathew 25, the servant who went and buried his talent instead of multiplying it greatly displeased his master. John 15:16 asks that we may bear fruit that will last, in the book of Genesis 1:28 God Himself asked man and woman to be fruitful. We too as Christians must bear fruit even as we wait for the Lord. We must go out and administer our faith. It could be in an office where we have never spoken about Jesus Christ and no one really knows what we profess. It could be encouraging someone who is depressed in the process of which we could explain our hope of salvation with love and respect. It is a fact that some people will be rewarded by God for the manner in which they have used their talents to bear fruit but others will surely be castigated for the way in which they hid what God had given unto them. Here on earth, Christians can also miss out on blessings if they are not themselves fruitful.

Thirdly is to CONCENTRATE on our call of salvation otherwise we shall lose out on the crown that has been prepared for us. Some will receive a rich welcome because of how they have walked. Others may be cast away from the presence of God because they backslid or because they never really knew God through Jesus Christ. Concentrating on our salvation call means that life will go on around us no matter what we now know. Mathew 24:38-39 says of the days Noah, 'For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking , marrying and giving in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of man'. We however, must be aware that we are heaven bound. May what else we are doing in this life like courtship, getting married or having children not interfere with our focus for heaven, for we are the citizens of the Kingdom of God who are not of this world. And if we remain faithful, Christ will surely not leave us behind. Tire not of doing right because just as He noticed and spared Lot and Noah, so shall God remember us amidst all that is life.

Let us hold onto our faith. Let nothing make us lose our focus on the promises to the saints that our Lord has made. 1 John 2:28 encourages, 'And now dear children, continue in Him so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.' Christ Himself further cautions us in Revelation 3:11, 'I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown.'

In the account of the servants who were given five and two talents, they both received the same commendation in Mathew 25: 21 & 23, "Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master's happiness". It did not matter that one gave more than the other, what mattered is that as was given unto them; they were able to work with what they had. The one that failed to multiply his talent was thrown into the darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

After a while, the Master will come for us and we should only focus on the fact that He will find us worthy of residence in His Kingdom. For what would it benefit us to gain the whole world yet lose our very souls at the final hour? What we should work for are the words from the Master, "Well done good and faithful servant". It does not matter what talents we may have or how little we may think we have compared to others because God knows our abilities and our giftings. What we owe Him is to be able to bear fruit within our capabilities because our salvation is a gift and as we await the promises that accompany it, we do so in appreciation. of it, by serving God through the people around us.

(Word count 1072)

May these words (sermons), from various men and women of God be a blessing to all. 

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