photo by bransorem

I normally hesitate to make the analogy between investment and eternity but earlier this week I was reading something that piqued my interest.

I was reading a getAbstract book summary on Warren Buffett’s investment strategy. The summary said that, contrary to other investors such as Merrill Lynch, who could often argue both for and against any investment, Warren would only buy if he was convinced that the company was better than its value.

I think that we often sell a relationship with God as though we’re pitching an investment to day traders. We tell people that God will make their lives better. So they invest with a short-term mindset.

To be truthful, we’re often in the same boat – looking at God with the mindset of “What have you done for me lately?” We view our current circumstances as a predictor of our eternity. As though the God-economy owes us something right now. But that is not the call of Christ.

The call of Jesus of Nazareth is to repent and stop sinning. To pick up your cross and follow him. He has not asked us to make an uninformed decision – he told us that we would have trouble in the world. He has, in fact, proven the value of his proposition through the sacrifice of his own life. And then, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, has given us a “down payment” on his offer.

Yes, Jesus came to proclaim freedom to the captives, sight to the blind, and healing to the sick. And he does all of that. But here’s the larger call. It’s a long walk to the end of our lives. The “market” of life will go up and down. There will be good times and bad times. But we, if well-informed, did not get into this for the short-term payoff.

If we have invested our lives and our hope in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we are well-invested. We have chosen a clear winner. The “management team” is the best. The benefit – an eternal relationship with the one true God – is beyond measure.