Lasting Investments

Reading:

“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)

Meditation:

Times like these drive us to a kind of self-reflection, an accounting of ourselves. With so much of our normal lives disrupted, we’re realizing what we miss and what matters to us. This can be a good thing if we discover that we miss our friends, that we miss being at work, going to church, and so on. But it can also lead us to discover that the things we long for maybe aren’t that good after all. Perhaps we’ve invested too much in the wrong things.

Now is the time to take an inventory of your life’s investments. Where have you been putting your money, you time? Have you spent your life building up your home, your comforts? Are you seeking security in your bank account, or your 401k? Or have you invested all in your reputation and popularity, whether online or in-person? Where are you investing your treasure?

Jesus promises us that building up for ourselves on earth is, as the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it, “vanity and chasing after the wind.” Why should we put our hope in these things? Why should we invest in that which does not last?

Some of you may already know what things in your own life qualify as “bad investments.” But for some of you, you may need to begin praying and asking that God would reveal them to you. Because now is the time take a fresh look. Now is the time to ask the hard questions. Now is the time for repentance.

Prayer:

Father, please forgive me for the ways that I’ve mis-invested the good gifts that you’ve given to me. Holy Spirit, will you reveal my heart to me and show me where I have erred? Jesus, will you teach me to follow you more faithfully? Have mercy, my God.

Amen.