Your Most Important Investment

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  Have you ever thought about it? What is your most important investment? A quick Google search results in a not surprising and yet somewhat uninspiring list:

· You…invest in yourself…your self-worth, mind, career, education, health

· Real Estate & other property

· A Diversified portfolio

· Family

These are all good things, but are they truly the MOST important? 

Let me share a little of my story. I grew up in a Christian home with two loving parents. 

Full stop. I know I just lost some of you, so I am going to challenge you to be curious. Curious about what I am going to say next and curious enough to seriously consider what really matters in life.

As I was saying…home life was pretty good. My dad was a pastor during most of my childhood, so we never really had much money. We moved every few years to a new city. New school. New friends. I wasn’t nomadic… even in church circles, just like most people, my parents were trying to move up, do better for their family, find stability, buy a newer car or house or whatever. When I was 15, my dad’s days as a pastor ended.

Let me ask you…when you were a kid, did you go where your parents wanted you to go? Right. Me too. So that meant I didn’t have a choice about going to church. I went. I’m sure some of you did too. Or maybe you went to the synagogue or mosque. In any case, I grew up going to church which meant I was a Christian…but was I Christian and what did that really mean? But at age 15, my parents didn’t require me to go to church anymore. Dad wasn’t working there. There is a long backstory of course, but at the end of the day, I got to choose what to do on Sunday mornings. So I decided to go to a different church than my parents. I don’t remember why, but as I look back, it became a pivotal juncture in my life. A short time later I found myself in the impoverished nation of Haiti. I went with a group from my church and our role there was to hand out rice, beans and water…and love. While their bodies needed food & drinking water, they also needed someone to acknowledge them, smile at them, listen to their need, play ball with them, engage with them and show them that their life has meaning. This was eye and heart opening for 16-year old me.

It brought a lot of questions (here are a few):

· Why do people suffer?

· Why do people long for love and acceptance?

· Why would God give me so much and them so little?

· Who or what do I hope in?

· What is the purpose of life?

It began in me a process of searching for these answers. As a supposed Christian, I could recite plenty of Bible verses and stories and tell you who Jesus was and is, but that is religion. Belief and faith are different than religion.  As I began researching and exploring Christianity for myself, other questions began to develop:

· Is there a God?

· If so, who is God? Are there multiple gods? How can we know?

· Did he create the universe, set in motion and the go on vacation or something else?

· How big is the universe and where is our place in it?

· Can all roads/religions/beliefs lead to the same God?

· Who really is the God of the Bible? Who is Jesus and is he God?

· Can we trust evidence about Jesus?

One of my favorite lines from the movie Rudy is from the Catholic priest who says: “After a lifetime of study, I have 2 conclusions: there is a God, and I am not him”. Ha!

In my research, I ran across a number of very powerful resources that I encourage you to CURIOUSLY explore if you never have:

· Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell

· Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

· The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

· Stand to Reason (www.str.org) by Greg Koukl and others

Just recently, I read a book by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek entitled “I Don’t have Enough Faith to be an Atheist”. It is a book everyone should read as it details most of the topics outlined above.

These resources and more led me to these conclusions: 

- Science, physics, the big bang, logic, intelligent design, human consciousness, morality and reason all point the fact that there is a God who created the universe.

- The Bible is trustworthy. 

- Jesus claimed to be God, proved himself to be God, died a death he did not deserve and rose from the grave – it never happened before and hasn’t happened since, so he must be who he says he is.

- We are separated from God because of our own desires – “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”

- Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He is the Savior of the world. He is the only one that can rescue us and restore our relationship with God.

- My purpose in life is to know God, love God and love others.

So what is your most important investment?

Trusting and knowing God. We all have a longing to know God. You may not have realized it, but we all fill out hearts, minds, and bodies with created things and they never satisfy. Why? Because our soul longs for more. We long to know our creator. We long to believe in someone greater than ourselves; to hope in someone who will not let us down; to trust in someone who is trustworthy.

No amount of money, fame, success, friendships, exercise, beauty, pleasure, education, self-awareness, family or anything else will satisfy your soul. 

It longs for more. It longs to trust and know God.

Do your own research…just like a stock or bond. Dig deep. Don’t take my word for it.

God will meet you where you are. I promise.

And contact me if you want to chat!  I would love to hear from you.