SPIRITUAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES:
Once there was this young couple in their early thirties. They had two children, good careers, had just bought a home and were settling into middle class American life. Soon they began to think about investing for their future so they would have money set aside for college for their kids and for their retirement. As they researched investments, it came down to two choices: one offered a quick and big return on investment but a sketchy long-term return and the second offered a modest initial return but a huge guaranteed return after retirement. What will this young couple do? Which option will they choose? Which one would you choose if you were this couple?
This investment scenario can be looked at as a parable for our lives on this earth. Our lives can be viewed as an investment strategy. How we choose to live shows which investment strategy we have taken. Like in the story, we also have two basic choices on how to invest our life. The first investment strategy belongs to the world. The world dangles tantalizing and tempting returns if we go for its quick payoff. It tempts us with things like materialism, success, pride, knowledge, sex, fun, popularity, etc. We invest in the world’s strategy by giving in to its values and spending our gifts and talents pursuing its returns. The problem with the world’s investment strategy is that it is a ponzi scheme! It promises a big payoff, but you end up bankrupt and losing everything, including our eternal destiny. Jesus said in Luke 9:24-25 “Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me will save it. 25It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are destroyed or lost” (ERV).
However if we choose the second investment strategy, the outcome is entirely different. The second strategy is God’s. He invites us to give up the things of this world and the temporary payoff they offer and invest our time, talents and treasure in the Kingdom of God. At first glance, giving up the quick payoff of the world seems too much to ask for many people. But even this is a deception. Yes the Christian life is full of hardships. We have to take stands against the evil of this world that can bring ridicule and persecution. We make difficult choices like going to church and Bible studies, giving our tithes, and using our gifts and talents to glorify God that the world simply doesn’t understand. But God offers us an inner peace and joy in this life that the world can’t offer. So in reality, the payoff in this life for the Christian is better than what the world offers. And then there is the big payoff at retirement time (when we leave this life) with God’s investment strategy – eternal life in God’s presence with the curse of sin and all the evil that comes with it removed forever! It will be so much more incredible than any of us can image. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (NLT).
Which investment strategy are you currently enrolled in? Maybe you are in the “in-between strategy” where you are trying to get the best results from both investments. Bad news – this never works. You will end up with the benefits of neither and the consequences of the world’s strategy – eternal destiny in hell! If you need help with your spiritual investment decisions you can always call your spiritual brokers at the investment firm of New Heights. Their names are Pastor Dan and Pastor Sherry. We are always willing to give wise spiritual investment advice. May today be the day you become a wise investor of with your life.