Are You Investing in a River, or in a Swamp?

Photo of The Santa Fe River by Mike Hosey

River banks, and river water entwine with one another in ways that are completely inseparable. Without it’s banks, a river is just a stagnant wet patch of ground, or a swamp where no one builds, and that everyone avoids because it is unpleasant, or dangerous, or both. Without it’s water, a river is just a parched, meandering, and lifeless trail of rock and sand which transports nothing to nowhere. Investment is exactly like that. Investment is the giving of resources, time, or effort with the expectation that one will receive a profit, or that one will improve a condition. Purpose runs through investment like water flows between banks to form a river. Investment without purpose is foolish, and nothing but a waste of resources, time, and effort.

God has generously invested in all of us those three things — resources, time, and the ability to expend effort. He expects a return on that investment. His expectation is that his goodness will be glorified, his kingdom will be advanced among men, and that men will be saved from their own sin, satan’s schemes, and from hell. Unfortunately, we tend to reinvest those things he’s given us solely in our own pleasures. Doing this is like irrigating crops with no trenches or pipes to deliver the water. It just makes a wet spot on the ground as the water runs off irretrievably into an oblivion. When we do that, we are robbing God of the investment he made in us. But we are also robbing ourselves of the opportunity to properly reinvest those treasures he’s given us, and to reap a reward that is greater than fleeting moments of temporary pleasure. Our purpose for investment should never be solely us. Our purpose primarily is to advance the purposes of God. In doing this, we reap love from others, experience the pleasure of loving others, receive a halo of glory as we reflect God’s glory, and produce a lasting impact on our communities, our children, our families and our friends. Proper reinvestment produces in us spiritual growth, power, wisdom, and maturity.

Are you investing what God has given you? What portion of the resources, time, and energy are you investing in God’s purposes? Have you analyzed your investments to see what returns you are generating for God? To what purposes have you put your gifts? Have you carved out banks for the water that God has given you? Are you a wet, soggy piece of ground where that water has no direction, or are you a river carrying life through a land that blossoms with the investment you bring?