Matthew 6:19-34:  “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

            In the day that we live people are distraught due to investments they have made going sour due to the current state of our economy. You can’t turn on the news without hearing the media or our political leaders talking about the failure of certain companies, poor investments, and the decline of the stock market. These things are what makes the “world go round” as it were when it comes to the concern of our nation. An investment is by design something we wrap around our possessions to protect them, to cause them to appreciate and not depreciate over time, and so we end up with more then what we entered into originally with. Some investments take years and years, and usually they are the good ones to make. The “get rich schemes” and pyramid schemes like the one Bernie Madoff conned people into are the ones that aren’t true investments. We invest out of a desire to protect, and we protect that which we desire to keep because we care about it. Let’s examine for a moment Real Investments in light of God’s Word:

1.      We invest in what we desire to protect.

2.      We invest in what we desire to keep.

3.      We invest in what we desire to multiply and flourish.

4.      We invest in what we treasure:

Earthly Possessions (vs.19): these are treasures but are not to be our chief treasure. We have been entrusted with these things from God to be good stewards of, but they are not to be our focus in life. These things rust, corrupt, and can be lost or stolen over time just from the course of life. Job said in Job 1:21 “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” He had the right perspective about earthly things.

Eternal Possessions (vs. 20): these are the treasures we are to cling to in our life. The things that we seek from the kingdom of God will last forever; they will never be stolen, rusted, or corrupted. These things are the Soul of Man and the Word of God and the relationships we have that are affected by those things.

5.      Where our treasure is, is truly where our heart is as a Christian. (vs. 21)

6.      Making Real Investments in what God tells us to invest in reaps eternal rewards. (Matt. 10:17-31)  “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”- Jim Elliot.

 Invest in a relationship with God- be willing to give whatever it takes to follow Jesus Christ in your life. The man in the Scriptures went away sad because he was not willing to give up something he couldn’t keep anyway to follow Jesus. Spend time on your knees in prayer, invest in a prayer life that moves mountains and touches the heart of God, that impacts eternity, and changes lives. Spend time in the Word of God learning about Him who gave His life for you, and what He wants to do with your life. Spend time meditating on Scripture and a vision of what God can do with your life with thankfulness on what He has done. Spend time reflecting on the fact that He is coming soon, there is no doubt about it, it could be any moment, and how will He find you living and what will He find your investing or protecting?

 Invest in a relationship with your family- be willing to do whatever it takes to turn out for God. Don’t give into the pressure of this world! Shut out the naysayers, the critics, and the negativity. You can raise grow up for the glory of God in the world we live in. You can by your leadership lead your brothers, sisters, and family members to the feet of Jesus and then let Him change their lives. Have more goals for your then just being good people, good citizens, and good Samaritans. God wants to do great things with their lives, have a desire to be Great Christians who love God and want to serve Him no matter the cost. Teach others that serving God is a privilege, not a sacrifice. Determine to be good husbands and wives,  that teach their children how to have a good marriage that pleases God. Don’t dwell with your family, live with them! Don’t exist in your life, invest in it, protect it, live it, and other people then may want what you have. I honestly believe that more people got saved in years past because there were more Christians concerned more for their testimony and their families then they were for their checkbook or “freedoms in Christ” to live how they want and make excuses for it. Why would the world want to add Jesus to their lifestyles? When you got saved you didn’t add Jesus to your lifestyle, Jesus became your life! Live for Him!

Invest in your church- be willing to do whatever it takes to see people added to this church, walking down the aisles receiving Christ, baptized, and learning about living the Christian life here. If you aren’t faithful to church, others aren’t learning from you to be faithful. If you aren’t faithful to church others aren’t be encouraged to be faithful by your life. Church is more than an investment for you, it’s more than just Sunday, more than just Wednesday. Church is our local body of believers encouraging one another to live for God and serve God to their maximum potential. It isn’t supposed to be a place of conflict, disagreement, social hour, or casual lifestyle. We come to worship God together and to hear His Word preach. Invest in that! Be loyal to that! Give your money! Give your time! Give your talents! Give yourself!  

Make some real investments that will reap benefits both here and in eternity, and start today or one day when life has past you will wish you had.