Sit loose to the OCCUPATIONS of the world.

. Sit loose to the OCCUPATIONS of the world. It is right for Christians to be diligent in business. I often wonder how unconverted souls can be so busy — how, when you are bustling along, filling up all your time with worldly things, it never occurs to you that there will be none of this in eternity. How can I be so busy for my body, when my poor soul is unprovided for? But those in Christ may well be diligent.
(1) They have a good conscience — that oils the wheels. "A merry heart does good like a medicine." A light heart makes easy work.
(2) They love to honor their Lord. They would not have it said that a believer in Jesus was an idler or a sluggard — the love of Jesus constrains them to all that is lovely. And yet a believer should "buy, as if it were not theirs to keep" — for "the time is short."
Oh! believers, you cannot be misers; for you are but stewards. All that you possess here is your Lord's — and the day is at hand when He will transfer you to take care of another property in a brighter land. You are but servants. It would not do, if you were to set your hearts on the things of this lower room; for in a few days the Master is to call you to serve in His own dear presence!
Dear believers, be ready to leave your room for the golden harp, at a minute's warning. Be ready to leave your desk for the throne of Jesus — and your pen for the palm of victory. Be ready to leave the market below, for the street of the new Jerusalem, where the redeemed shall walk. If you were in a sinking ship, you would not cling hard to bags of money — you would sit loose to all, and be ready to swim. This world is like a sinking ship, and those who grasp at its possessions will sink with it. Oh! buy, as if it were not yours to keep — for "the time is short."

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