“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV)
Next month I will be paying off a huge debt which will free up some cash every month. This, along with the recent tax reforms, is leading to a much better financial picture by the end of the year. All of this is very exciting. I am checking out flights again (Moldova, Romania, Albania, etc) thinking how I can save each month, take more time off, invest, etc.
The question is not will I invest or not- rather it's what will I invest in? Sunday evening I quickly read The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. A relatively short book, he encourages Christians to remember that this world is not our home. Jesus makes very direct statements about money in the Gospels. He talked about money (and how we should use it) more than He talked about heaven or hell!
Alcorn encourages his readers to write their own obituaries. Really. What do you want to leave as a legacy? A big house? A shiny car? Cash? Everything I just mentioned is LEFT BEHIND. You can't take a single penny with you.
However, you CAN send it ahead! Jesus encourages us to "lay up treasures in Heaven" Investing time, labor, and money into reaching people for Christ, helping the poor, the elderly, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting prisoners. All these activities are an investment that will never go down in value. In fact, they are the only investment that will last. So I guess I need wisdom to invest wisely. And God promised He would give us wisdom if we would only ask.
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