You got the cash. What do you do now? Opposite to what many people today do – invest. The principle of wasteful ownership is simply not present in the Bible, yet it’s not hard to find signs of it in our lives today. I suppose it has to do with the influence of the world around and the wrong belief that Christians should not get rich. I’m going to take you on a walk on the edge for a bit, so bear with me.
God blesses us with various things in life and with not a single one of them does he expect us to selfishly go on and selfishly keep to ourselves. Or in other words – own wastefully. There are plenty of examples of this from the Word, one of the clearest of which is found in Matthew 25:14-30. It’s a story about money but I see it also as a story of trust. The master entrusted his servants with his wealth. Two of them picked up on that and went ahead to multiply it. The third one played it safe.
Today, you and I are entrusted with more wealth than we could count. But what do we do with it? Yes, many complain that they’re poor and can’t do much to help it… But read the previous part of the series for more on resolving this. Am I doing enough today to multiply the wealth I have been given? Am I going to dig out the one buck from the back yard or will I have a whole bag to carry back to my master? In other words – do you invest your blessings or you simply enjoy them?
Receiving is passive and therefore extremely easy. Recognizing what you’ve received does take some effort but doesn’t necessarily make you active. Investing, on the other hand does require some intentional actions. Lots of them, actually. I believe this is why it’s so difficult. We’d rather sit around and have what we have. Moreover, what if we start on this whole investment thing and become dependent on it? Even worse – what if we waste it all? That ought to be less appreciated than keeping the one buck, no?
Remember, it’s a story about money and a story of trust. God wouldn’t give us stuff to invest if He didn’t already know we’re able to do it. And we shouldn’t go about investing without trusting that He who initiated it will also complete it. Yes, we do owe God the care and diligence in dealing with His blessings, but this should be a joyful ride for us. Not a dreadful task we’re trying to avoid. The fact that we’re entrusted with so much should mean something. The promotion at work boosts our energy levels, why doesn’t this also?
There’s a choice to be made. Play it safe and hope for the best or play it real and multiply what we’ve been given the responsibility over. It includes time, relationships, material possessions and money. What we do with the result we’ll look at in the next, part 3 of the series but for now, picture this:
Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!
– Matthew 25:23, NIV
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