a GREAT investment
One rainy afternoon as
I was heading home from UP Technohub I hailed a bus en route to FTI and dried
myself up after sitting comfortably on a vacant seat near a bus window. I was
busy drying myself after getting soaked from the rain that I forgot how bad the
situation was outside. It was like watching Water World in 3D. The streets were
flooded and the cars were stranded. But after 30 minutes of panicking, the rain
finally stopped and the flood slowly subsided.
But that’s not the
story yet.
So I was still inside
the public vehicle sitting comfortably when a group of passengers ascended the
bus. After everyone was seated I noticed an old lanky man still standing with a Bible clutched to his right hand. And then he introduced himself and started
citing bible verses. His voice was guttural making it hard for me to comprehend
the words coming out of his mouth. I tried stringing out the words but failed.
The only verse I remembered was Malachi 3:10 which is one of my favourite
verses in the Bible.
The old man kept on
talking and I tried making out the words. After a couple of minutes I finally
realized what his final passage was.
“Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years
approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’.”
-Ecclesiastes 12:1
And then it hit me.
I finally got hold of
the verse and from then started a myriad of ideas that I find worth sharing.
Serving GOD is one of
the most rewarding things a person can do in his lifetime.
We were designed by
GOD to serve and love him. And as GOD’s creations we are expected to conform to
this design not because we are forced to but because we love doing things pleasing
to the eyes of GOD.
Ecclesiastes 12:1
inspires us to always remember our Creator while we are still young. And by
remembering Him means doing our devotions and praying every day, being faithful
in giving our tithes and love offerings, following his commandments, sharing
the word of GOD, and leading our friends, classmates, family members,
acquaintances, workmates and strangers we meet to HIM.
For the youth of
today, this will be a great investment to start with.
Why an investment?
Let me show you a
simple illustration. Investment is like planting vegetables. If you want to
harvest the healthiest and the freshest vegetables you need to use the best
fertilizer, soil, and pest control chemicals. You also need to have a good
irrigation system and a well-ventilated soil bed to produce the best results
you aimed for. The bottomline is if we give our 100% to something we can expect
that the results will be favourable.
What would be that
investment?
That investment would
be serving the Lord and doing things that will please him.
Why would it be a good
investment?
Because by doing this
we start something good and prolific and in return receive the full benefits of
it in ways more than what we expected.
And I could definitely
say that this investment is far from those “worldly” investments. In this investment
YOU will always WIN and never LOSE!
The LORD encourages us
to turn back from our wicked ways and follow him when we are still young and
have the strength to do things in accordance to his will. It’s always a common
reason by some people to get back to the LORD whenever they feel weak enough to
sin or they’ve gotten a lot older that they cannot follow the call of the
flesh. But let us not wait for the time when we would be old enough to repent
and get on the right track with GOD.
We cannot wait for the
right time to come because the right time is now! Every day is a new
opportunity to carry our own cross and repent for the sinful things we’ve done
in the past and let GOD take all of the burden and the pain we have away. GOD
loves us no matter what and HE will be faithful to forgive our shortcomings
when we submit ourselves wholeheartedly to him and finally turn back from our old selves.
How would we solidify
the investment?
Like the vegetable
analogy that I used we can solidify our investment by being submissive to the
Lord. This would be possible by having a consistent prayer and devotional time.
When we pray we have this conversation with GOD in which we can talk to him
like a normal person. By doing our daily devotions we would be able to understand
the promises of our Lord on that particular day; because the Lord reveals
something to us every day. Other than that we also need to win and disciple
more souls for the Lord so that we can be assured of the great harvest not only
for ourselves but for everyone. Don’t be doubtful and hesitant for the Lord
will always give us the provision, guidance, and blessings we need to go
further with our investment.
What would be the
benefit of this investment?
It will not be much of
a financial gain but something more important than that: good health, security,
peace of mind, financial freedom, safety, family integrity, and the salvation
of everyone we love and know.
In the end we will
reap the great harvest we’ve set before us. We will be able to receive the gift
of God, and that is eternal life with him in heaven.
Having said that, I
hope and pray that this simple blog post will have a positive effect on you,
whoever you are. I hope that you will invest on things worth investing and that
is investing for the Lord, which is the greatest investment one can have.
God bless you!
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