Are Your Investments Sure?
In troubling and uncertain economic times, nobody can truly say that their investments are safe and secure. And yet we are frequently bombarded with all manner of advice on how to make the “right” investment. All of this advice is extremely complicated, very little of it makes sense, and less still actually works. We may well ask, “Does a ‘right’ investment really exist?”
The Bible tells us that there is such a thing as a right investment. It is neither complicated nor illogical, and has tremendous value in the short term, and is able to produce great long-term growth with the right maintenance.
Jesus Christ shows us that there are really only two types of investments: earthly and heavenly:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21
When we invest in earthly treasures, and even trust that they will provide real security, we are making a very uncertain "investment" indeed. As the world has seen many times - past and present - economies can crumble at anytime. It reminds us of just how quickly these earthly treasures can be rendered "moth eaten and corrupted by rust", and of far less value than we once thought they had. And as the value of earthly investments fall, we also see that the thieves have broken in, and stolen from what was claimed to be “a sure investment.”
How to invest in heavenly things
Jesus makes it clear that the heavenly treasures are completely free from all manner of corruption or theft. And yet it is evident that such an investment cannot be bought for any price.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls...
As Jesus indicates, the investment in heavenly things occurs first in the heart, where we no longer focus on the uncertain riches of the world, but seek to gain eternal riches. Jesus makes this difference in the heart clear when talking to the church in Laodicea, a city of the Roman Empire in what is now Turkey:
“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:17-19
The Laodiceans thought that they were rich and had made good investments in the earthly treasures, so that they thought that they had need of nothing, but Jesus points out that in God’s eyes, they were in fact poor and miserable. Jesus then gives investment advice that seems almost contrary to what he says in Matthew, for he advises them to invest in “gold refined by fire."
What’s the difference?
Jesus advises that gold be bought from him, and is linked with the need that they “be zealous and repent” ie, to turn "from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).
and upon finding ONE pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." Matthew 13:45, 46
The advice is the same for us today.
Peter, one of the apostles (or, “one who is sent”) of Jesus Christ, explains that the gold we buy from Jesus is a tried faith, that belief we have in God’s plan and purpose with this earth to fill it with His glory. It is a faith that is founded first in the word of God and is then refined to perfection through the trials that come upon true disciples of Christ as we walk more and more by the spirit, striving against the worldly lusts in and around us:
“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:6-9
The outcome of an investment in this gold has very great value indeed. The salvation of our souls (or lives) cannot come about from investments in earthly treasures. Only the investment in the heavenly treasure of faith, and allowing that faith to be refined, will bring us to that great end.
Eternal Value
Begin investing today in those heavenly treasures. It starts with reading the word of God and seeking to understand God’s full plan and purpose with the earth and how we can be a part of it. This buys us that faith which God purifies through trial that it might be in us something better than gold that perishes, as we look to the revelation of Jesus Christ onto the earth, when those who are faithful will receive “the salvation of their souls.”
“How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold." Proverbs 3:13, 14
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