JUST HOW LASTING ARE YOUR INVESTMENTS?

As an old man, Solomon agonized over the futility of his investments:

“When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless,

a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun… So I hated life, because the work that is done

under the sun was grievous to me… A chasing after the wind… ” (Ecclesiastes 2:11, 17)

Do your investments parallel Solomon’s? Or are you making the kind of investments that

will outlive you, lasting for eternity? If you want:

A one year return on your investment, plant grain.

A ten year return on your investment, plant a tree.

An eternal return on your investment, plant people.

It is God’s intention to destroy everything physical, including your earthly investments:

“The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away… and the elements will

be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (II Peter 3:10)

Can we, therefore, grasp the fact that only God, His word, and people are eternal?

God: “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to

everlasting you are God.” (II Peter 3:8) (See Psalm 102:12; Ephesians 3:21)

His word: “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” (Psalm 119:89) (See Psalm

119:152, 160; Matthew 5:18; 24:34; I Peter 1:25)

People: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to

shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2) (See Matthew 25:46; Romans 2:7, 8; II

Thessalonians 1:5-9)

Consequently, the only investments that will withstand the coming holocaust will be those

made in the lives of people. Thus, God regularly places individuals in our path with whom

He desires our investment: The person at the club. That neighbor across the street. A

business associate. A relative. Someone in distress.

QUESTIONS: As you encounter these people, are you blithely brushing past them to fulfill

your agenda? Or are you viewing each one as a divine appointment? Are you responding to

the prompting of the Spirit by graciously and determinedly investing in their lives for the

purpose of bringing Christ to them? Or building Christ in them? Even when it means

altering your predetermined schedule?

I suppose the answers to these questions are determined by whether we are living for the

temporal, or investing in the eternal.