A GOOD INVESTMENT

 FEBRUARY 3, 2023

Matthew 19:29

And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.

How would you like a one-hundredfold return on your investment? Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?

This is exactly what Jesus promises in this verse above for our spiritual investment and growth.

This verse comes at the end of the account of the rich young man who comes to Jesus wanting eternal life. You may recall that the young man leaves the conversation with Jesus in sadness because Jesus calls him to sell his many possessions and give the money to the poor. As it turns out the point Jesus was driving home was that this man’s wealth was his god, and while he endeavoured to keep the other commandments, Jesus’ focus was on the first commandment of having “no other god’s” before the Covenant God. This was the young man’s undoing. The disciples’ are amazed and the discussion about the how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven ensues, and Jesus teaches that only with God are impossible things possible.

Peter asks what they will have or get for following him. He promises his disciples that following him is the wisest possible investment. It results in a pay-off one can hardly imagine. It’s almost as if Jesus knows we are wired to want to know when we invest in something, what is in it for us. What is the payoff? So, I wonder if the issue is not if you invest with the hope of a future return, but it’s what, or better whom, you invest in for a return that truly lasts.

Following Jesus does require some sacrifices. Jesus wants to encourage you and me in this, that it’s all worth it. It’s more than worth it. It’s a wise investment that is full of blessings and the inheritance promised to us of eternal life.

LET US PRAY

God, thank you that all things are possible with you. Lead me by your Spirit to leave behind what I need to follow Jesus and invest wisely for the life in the kingdom of heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1 Peter 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.