INVESTMENT IN THE LORD’S WORK

“Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  (Matthew 6:20-21)

The only investments I ever made which paid constantly increasing dividends are those I have given to the Lord's work. Pastors do their congregation a great service by helping those in the church understand God's truth about money, time and giving.

-- J. L. Kraft, Founder of Kraft Foods 

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INVESTING IN OUR CHILDREN

“You shall put these words of Mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.”  (Deuteronomy 11:18-21 NRSV)

Your child's greatest need is the security of knowing that you care. There is no better way to convey your love than to spend time with your child. Hours invested in your child will produce dividends now and in the future. You will be building a relationship, moment by moment, that will be the basis for a lifelong friendship between the two of you.

Don't be misled by the myth of "quality time" -- it is an admirable goal, but it should not be used as an excuse for missing "quantity time" with your child. Quality moments usually can't be scheduled. They happen spontaneously, without warning, in circumstances you don't anticipate. Those precious, teachable moments will be initiated by your child, while you're playing in the backyard, driving in the car, or staring at a worm in the dirt. For your children, all of the time you spend together can be "quality time" because it is then that they have what's most important to them -- your attention.

-- Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz in “God Is in the Small Stuff”

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A MATTER OF PERSONAL INVESTMENT

“So also faith, if it is unaccompanied by obedience, has no life in it -- so long as it stands alone.”   (James 2:17 WNT)

Too many people think of religion, and particularly Christianity, as a matter of having to believe impossible things.  Faith and belief are related, but they are not the same things.  I can believe all kinds of things (dogs are better than cats, angels have wings and stand by my bed at night, or even that God exists), that make little or no practical difference in how I actually live my life.

Faith, on the other hand, is a matter of personal investment.  Faith usually implies belief, but it also assumes that this belief makes a profound difference in how I treat others, engage the world, or spend my time and money.  Faith moves me to risk, sacrifice, grow, and challenge.  Believing is easy; it requires nothing much of us.  But having true faith is the hardest thing in the world.  Interestingly, many people report that they don't really know what they believe until they begin to act on faith. 

-- Clifton F. Guthrie in “Faith: Living a Spiritual Life” 

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