Investment advice

Do you read obituaries, you know, those few paragraphs that sum up the lifetime of someone who has recently departed this earth?  Is that a groan I hear? Sometimes they are just a few lines – he was born here, worked there, married to her, had children, and died!  A few are like the one I read at a recent funeral service. The man had packed three lifetimes into one! He was an accomplished athlete in school, a college scholar, served our nation in the military, raised a family, climbed the ladder of success in his work, retired while relatively young, and went on to get his pilot’s license and invest thousands of hours as an active volunteer in civic activities. That one page summary revealed a fascinating and good life.

We do not all get blessed with the same opportunities. We are gifted in different ways – some scholars, some builders, some musical, some artistic – but we all have this in common:  we live with the same 24 hours day, the moments passing at the same rate. The question we all need to ask ourselves is about how we are this finite resource. Once the day is over, it is beyond our grasp. The choices we make are written in history. I want to leave a legacy of investment of that resource – so that my obituary reflects that God’s purpose was my priority. The Bible says, "Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, NLT)

A  life spent, but not invested, is a tragic waste!

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 where he offered counsel to the President on a daily basis. The policy decisions seemed momentous at the time, he said.  Three decades later, he realized that almost every one of those policies were undone or redone by subsequent administrations!  After Colson became a devout Christian, he began to invest his life in a way much differently, far from political power, with little regard for financial success.  Answering the call of God, he started Prison Fellowship, and gave himself to the least, the broken, convicts with no social standing.  He no longer sat in the Oval Office next to the President, but he helped to change the eternal destiny of thousands of men and women.

Are you just spending your time or are you investing each day with Heaven in sight? Of course, we all do things that are 'just life;'  going to work, getting an oil change for the car, mowing the lawn, folding the laundry, taking out the garbage! But, even those things can be 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. 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 counsels us about the wisest investment of life.
"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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Take My Life And Let It Be (Hendon)

Take my life and let it be

Consecrated Lord to Thee

Take my moments and my days

Let them flow in ceaseless praise

Let them flow in ceaseless praise

Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee

Swift and beautiful for Thee

Take my silver and my gold

Not a mite would I withhold

Take my intellect and use

Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose

Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose

Take my will and make it Thine

It shall be no longer mine

Take my heart it is Thine own

It shall be Thy royal throne

It shall be Thy royal throne

Take my love my Lord I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store

Take myself and I will be

Ever only all for Thee

Ever only all for Thee

Amen

Frances Ridley Havergal | Henri Abraham Cesar Malan

© Words: Public Domain