Unoccupied

There’s a house in my neighborhood.  Beautiful place.  Well built and spacious.  And for the last two years, completely empty.

Not for sale.  We have some of those, too, complete with yard signs and open houses.

Not in foreclosure.  None of those stickers on the window with the bold letters NOTICE at the top.

No, this home – this beautiful home – is paid for (or being paid for).  Ready for move-in.  But for reasons I do not know, it sits completely empty.

I’ve been thinking about that house lately.  I’m sure the owner has his reasons.  But it sure seems sad that something built to provide a lot of comfort and satisfaction fails to fulfill its purpose as it sits, unoccupied.  Hey, even the mail addressed to “current occupant” has nowhere to go.

Another Home Sits Waiting

In the spiritual realm, another home sits waiting.  Way more beautiful.  Already paid for.  Yet this home, purchased with the blood of the Lord Jesus, awaits the choice of someone to cross the threshold of faith and repentance.  It stands ready and waiting – available to whoever would accept the promise of its inviting and free gift.  And yet it waits, unoccupied.

Could that be you?  What else does Jesus have to do to show you how much He loves you?  What else does it take to convince you that you can’t save yourself, or that your plans are setting you up for your own ruin?  What else does He have to do to show you that, compared to the wonders that potentially await you, this planet is a garbage dump?

Some have accepted the gift.  Your home is yours!  Your name is on the deed!  But it still sits empty, waiting for you to truly “move into it.”  You have it, like something of an insurance policy.  But you don’t occupy it as your primary residence.  You treat this precious gift more like a vacation home that you visit from time to time, or a retirement home that you plan to move into one day.  But for now your true home seems more like an inconvenience than a place of identity and purpose.  And there it sits… unoccupied.

What it Means to Occupy

To occupy a place means to enter in – to cross the threshold or boundary with the full expectation that you have a right to be here.  In spiritual terms, that “right” has been purchased by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and your faith unlocks the door. But it must be received and acted upon.

To occupy also means to engage – not just to accept, but to actually be there.  To give it your attention, to take advantage of its benefits, to care for its cleanliness or repair, to invite others to join you in fellowship, to establish boundaries to keep unwanted intruders out – all of this and more are part of what it means to occupy a place… and to occupy a relationship.  And the hope and home established for you by the Lord Jesus calls for that level of engagement.

To occupy means to exercise – to man your post, fulfill your responsibilities, attend to your duty (there’s an old-fashioned word), for which someone will hold you accountable.  In one of Jesus’ stories, told in Elizabethan language, the landowner says, “Occupy” until I come (Luke 19:13).  But what happens when the Owner of it all returns to find His kingdom a shambles and His cherished possession neglected?

So where do you fit in?  What does your purchased home in the spiritual realm look like?  Isn’t it time to take possession of your possession?  Don’t you think it’s time to occupy what is legally and spiritually yours?  Heaven forbid someone passes your purchased possession and wonders, “When will they ever actually move in?”

Tagged as: Faith, Faithfulness, Heaven, Identity, Responsibility