What Do You Bring to the Table

There are songs about coming to the table of the banquet in Heaven but the question is, “What do you bring?” Better yet, what can we not bring? When Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees about the Imperial tax, Jesus responded with a great comment. Let’s see this portion of the Gospel:
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?  Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Matthew 22:14-22
There are two realms, the Spirit and the world. The worldly realm has things that we physically see, touch, use, and sometimes misuse, basically things that we rely on to survive physically. It is our current state of existence. The realm of the Spirit is where God dwells, there is no dust and clay forms, no money, no Xbox, no stressing over what Johnny said on social media, or other material things, there is only what God gave us inside the mortal shell. That is our true selves.
With that said, we know that it will not be anything physical to the table because we cannot take things from this world into the next so that cuts out bringing a main dish, drink, or dessert. We cannot bring a buddy because it is an individual effort. We only bring to God what God gave us in the first place, our very soul.  
Children of God have to live in one realm while preparing for the other. That means there are many choices and decisions we have to make in this world in order to find ourselves in the Arms of God for eternal rest. Man has tried to replicate and out do only what God can do which will always backfire no matter what it is.
While in this world we have to do things in order to survive but we should not give in to things that will keep us from attending the banquet. In fact we are required to separate ourselves from the things of the world. This means not to be so involved in the world that we have no time set aside for God. In fact, there should be no time where God is not an integral part of what we are doing in all facets of our life. This means avoiding the temptations that keep us away from following His Word. If an old sin comes back to haunt you, God has already given you the tools to defeat it. You must make the choice to defeat it or not.
Let’s go back to the Gospel portion written above, specifically the entrapment attempt:
“Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
Wow, do they really know what they were asking? Who we are in this world means nothing in the higher scheme of things.  They even tell Jesus that they recognize His lack of acknowledging earthly authorities above God’s Word. But then the kicker question is where they thought they could cause Jesus to speak blasphemy. Jesus’ immediate explanatory yet chastising response was perfect in explaining the difference between realms. 
“So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
Jesus say the physical coin and used the teaching tool here. Physical material things have no variance in Spiritual matters. However, the material things in this world can be manipulated to give God the glory when used for the greater good of the soul. If the material things are used to acquire things that do not have Godly applications but only human, there is no use for it. To Caesar, our soul can be lost and discarded; to God, our soul can be found and redeemed.
What do you bring, or are you even invited? Have you given your life to the service of God? Did you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Are you washed by the blood and the water or just got dunked because it was a cool thing to do? Do you follow God’s Word or just say you are ok because you “found Jesus”?