THE WORLD’S BEST INVESTMENT STRATEGY: There is no safe place on this earth to invest our money or store our most precious valuables. Regardless of where you put them, they are likely to decrease in value or be stolen by thieves. Not just that, but when we die, we cannot take them with us. Where, then, can we place our valuables to ensure they are completely safe?
In the Bible, God has provides us with practical guidance on how to live above the stresses of life, and we are given instructions on how to manage the resources He has given us.
In this series,
From a biblical perspective, we are looking at how to manage effectively the resources God has given us while prioritizing What Really Matters.
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Let’s Pray
Holy Father, you have made us managers of your resources. Help us put our trust in you and put the most valuable resources you have given us in the place you have for us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
The best investment strategy ever was given by Jesus when he said in Matthew 6:19-20
19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-20, NKJV)
Then he ended his investment advice with this statement in Matthew 6:21
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21, NKJV).
What was Jesus really saying?
He was saying,
“Show Me what you spend your money on and I will show you where your heart is. Because wherever you put your money, your heart is sure to follow.
The question is, where do you want to place your heart?
Jesus also made a troubling statement about profits and losses in Mark 8:36-37 when he says:
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36, 37, NKJV).
In other words, the place in which we place our treasures has a major impact on our eternal salvation.
How much are you willing to invest in building up God’s kingdom?
He is saying, do you have a heart for the kingdom of God, if so, put your money, your prize possession, where they can produce eternal rewards.
This requires that our time, money, prayers, and energy be put into God’s work.
And when you do that, you will soon discover the more time and energy you put into God’s work, the more interested in it you will become.
You will notice that your heart, your mind, and your thoughts will focus more and more on the interest of God’s Kingdom and what He desires for you.
Here we will focus on those texts in the Bible that show us how to store up treasures in heaven while we wait to receive our eternal reward at Christ’s Second Coming.
It is not unusual for God to ask those who desire heavenly riches to make major changes in their lives on earth. How ready are you to make those major changes?
An example of an individual that was interested in the kingdom of God was Noah. In Genesis 6:5–14, we find that Noah experienced some radical changes in the process of obeying God. What were those radical changes?
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Split)
6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. (Genesis 6:5-14)
Although Noah could have spent his time and resources building a home for himself and his family, he did something radical. He did something that made many of the people of his day think he was crazy. Following instructions from God, he spent 120 of his life building an ark. He built a big ship with the expectation of a coming flood when it had never even rained before.
While building the ark, Noah warned everyone that a flood was coming. But the people laugh at him and called him crazy.
Many today dismiss the story of the Flood as a myth. They often base their claims on the known laws of nature as they are today.
But this is not new. Listen to what it says in the Book Patriarchs and Prophets. (Split)
“The world before the Flood reasoned that for centuries the laws of nature had been fixed. The recurring seasons had come in their order…rain had never fallen; the earth had been watered by a mist or dew. The rivers had never yet passed their boundaries, but had carried their waters safely to the sea. Fixed decrees had kept the waters from overflowing their banks.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 96
You see, before the Flood, people argued that a flood could never happen. Now, after the Flood, people are saying that the Flood could never have happened!
Similarly, 2 Peter 3:3–7 tells us that many people in the end times won’t believe that the earth will be destroyed by fire.
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (II Peter 3:3-7)
For those who believe in the coming destruction, how can we prepare for it?
Do as Noah did, do not worry about what people think of you, be patient, and wait on the Lord.
Waiting involves putting off the desire to get immediate results. Another term for waiting is called, “delayed gratification”.
What is delayed gratification? It is the act of resisting the impulse to take an immediately available reward in the hope of obtaining a more-valued reward in the future.
God has promised us a more valuable reward in the future. So, what do we do? We continue to do the work God has appointed us to do with the promises of the greater future reward.
No, we don’t know when Jesus will return. But does it matter if we do not know the exact date?
What really matters is that we do like Noah. We do what God instructed us to do even if it requires that we make radical changes.
Luke 16:10 gives advice on how we can prepare ourselves to be willing to make those radical changes similar to the changes God called Noah to make.
10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. (Luke 16:10)
It starts with us being faithful in the little things. When we are faithful in the little, we are strengthened to be faithful when God calls us to make radical changes.
Another example of a person God called to make radical changes was Abraham.
He is called the father of those who are faithful. What did God call him to do?
Find out in Lesson 2: Abraham, the Father of the Faithful
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