Is It Worth It?

Is it worth it?

The teenage boys in my household are learning about managing resources. Their weekly allowance is finite, their desire for things seemingly infinite. If they spend their entire allowance on day out at the paintball field, they will have a great time, but they will also be broke for the rest of the week. So, they're learning to ask themselves, 'is it worth it?' I have to step back and allow them to choose, even unwisely at times, because that's part of the learning process.

How are you spending life's finite resources? I am particularly thinking of that most precious resource -time! With the end of my 6^th decade of life approaching, I ask myself, 'is it worth it?' I want to look back and see that I invested God's gift of time on people and projects that matter. The Bible says, "Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, NLT) Nothing is more tragic than a life spent, but never invested! The late Chuck Colson looked back on his life near the pinnacle of power here in the United States, when he walked the hallways of the White House and offered counsel to the President on a daily basis. The policy decisions seemed momentous at the time, he said, but 30 years later, almost each one had been undone or redone by subsequent administrations. After Colson became a devout Christian, he choose to spend his life in a way some would see as much less significant. He became a minister to those imprisoned. His choices no longer made headlines, but they helped to change the eternal destiny of thousands of men and women.

Are you spending your life on trinkets and trivia or investing it with wisdom? Granted, we must all do things that are 'just life.' But, even those mundane matters can be given significance if they are done in a way that honors Christ Jesus as Lord. How you do your work today matters, even if what you do will have to be done again tomorrow - be it ten loads of laundry, writing yet another memo about a product line, or driving a delivery route. The Word reminds that God cares how we do what we do: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Colossians 3:23-24, NIV)

Here is a word from the Word for your meditation. Jesus urges us to invest. "Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. "Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being." (Luke 12:31-34, The Message)

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