The Investment
Matthew 6:19 (TPT)
Don’t keep hoarding for yourselves earthly treasures that can be stolen by thieves. Material wealth eventually rusts, decays, and loses its value. Instead, stockpile heavenly treasures for yourselves that cannot be stolen and will never rust, decay, or lose their value.
In these words, Jesus encourages us to take an eternal perspective. The point is clear: we cannot take anything with us from this earth into eternity. Your house, your car, your fancy leather jacket, your diamond ring - it all stays here on earth. You won’t turn up before Jesus with your best outfit on and a Gucci bag!
The author Stephen King was involved in a terrible car accident. He found himself in a ditch at the side of a country road covered in blood. He wrote of that day:
'I had a MasterCard in my wallet, but when you’re lying in a ditch with broken glass in your hair, no one accepts MasterCard. On that particular day and in the months that followed, I got a painful but extremely valuable look at life’s simple backstage truths. We come into this world naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we’re just as broke ... All you have is on loan. All that lasts is what you pass on … So I ask you to begin giving. I think you’ll find in the end that you got far more than you ever had and did more good than you ever dreamed.'
We can’t take our bank savings into heaven with us. So ultimately the best use of money is to give it away, to invest in communities, to serve the poor, to empower the marginalised.
And the remarkable promise from Jesus is that when we give our money away, to our church or to those in need, we invest in our eternity. Every pound we give here on earth goes on ahead of us into eternity to build up treasures and blessings that won't rot!
Martin Luther said: ‘I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.’
Are we investing in our eternal future?
Prayer - Lord inspire me today to see how I can invest generously what I have been blessed with, to see your Kingdom come.