The Highest Return On Investment

Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.
–Matthew 6:20

Many wealthy people have money managers who invest their money for them. As their fee, these money managers are often given a percentage of the total assets of the investor. So the money manager has a good incentive to seek the highest return on investment. The same truth should apply to us when it comes to giving. When you understand God’s grace, you understand that God owns everything, and we are simply His money managers. And we should seek the highest return for His money, because the higher the return, the more we earn in eternity.

In Matthew 25, Jesus told a parable to illustrate this. A wealthy person was leaving on a long journey, so he called three of his slaves in and said, “I am going to divide my assets with you, and I want you to invest them.” To the first servant he gave five talents, to the second servant he gave two talents, and to the final servant he gave a single talent. Then he went away.

When the master returned, Jesus said, he asked what was done with the money. The first two slaves had invested their talents, and they had doubled the master’s money. But the third slave, the one who had only one talent, said, “I wanted to play it safe, so I went out and buried the talent. The good news is you did not lose anything.” Was the master thrilled about that? Hardly. In fact, he took away that one talent and gave it to the guy who had ten talents. In verse 29, Jesus said, “To everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

That is pretty harsh treatment for a guy who was just trying to be conservative, isn’t it? But Jesus was making an important point: one day, we are going to give an account of what we do with the time, the opportunities, and the money God has entrusted to us. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.” Nothing we have right now is eternal. But the money you invest in God’s work keeps going and going and going, earning eternal rewards. We ought to seek the highest return for what God has entrusted to us, and the highest return is found by investing in God’s eternal kingdom.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Good-Grace Churches – Part 2” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2020.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org