Financial people like to talk about returns on investment. People like me want to know what I can expect when I put my money into a retirement account for example. Of course, we all understand “past performance doesn’t guarantee future success,” but how about returns on spiritual investment?
I got on this train of thought because someone asked me recently if my daughter was dating anyone – they were in a different market for their nephew so to speak. Problem was, I knew just a little too much about the nephew in question. Bottom line, he had not made sound spiritual investments. It called to mind an old turn of phrase I heard long ago about how so many young people sow their wild oats and then pray for crop failure. But you reap what you sow and this is just as true if not truer in the spiritual realm. And it got me thinking – it’s never too soon to start your spiritual investment.
What that means for parents is to make sure our young ones are getting spiritually fed. Singing “Jesus Loves Me” and other such songs to our babies, taking them to church, praying with them and teaching them the Bible is laying a sound spiritual foundation we must continue to build on as long as they are in our house. They need to see integrity and fortitude in the face of shifting worldly allegiances and values. This is for the long-term, building a future in eternity.
What this means for young folks is to take responsibility for their future, realizing the earlier they start, the easier time they will have later on. My friend’s nephew had not shown trustworthiness in his commitment to Christ. While he now may be sincere in his desire for a Christian wife to spiritually invest with to build a strong Christian life together, the long-term effects of his earlier sins don’t go away. It’s like the one who starts saving for retirement in his 20’s in comparison to the one who starts in his 40’s. The effects linger.
That’s the hard news – but we need to hear it. We need to know the choices we make in regard to discipleship can set us on a sound path or a very difficult one. We need to know every decision we make is either helping us grow spiritually or stunting that growth. We need to understand that the world’s patterns are attractive and easy to fall into and difficult to get out of. And we need to know the consequences of our sins stay with us long after we’ve given them up…
… but they’re not eternal if we are committed to spiritual investment now. That’s the good news! No matter where we are in life, no matter what we’ve done, the debt stands forgiven when we start investing in eternity, giving ourselves fully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ! And here’s the kicker – when we get to heaven, we will find our return on our spiritual investment is the same for us all – I suspect, knowing all our checkered pasts, we will all be grateful!
Texts helping me in these thoughts included Psalm 119:9, Matthew 20:1-16, and Proverbs 22:6.