INVESTING FOR TRUE LIFE
As one grows from childhood into adulthood, the expectation is that every person takes hold of life, namely find a profession, have a family, learn how to manage time and money, buy a home and so on. However one seldom thinks of the irony of death that nullifies all and makes life meaningless in more ways than one. The Bible constantly exhorts us to look beyond and consider the true life that exists beyond the grave and advises us to take hold of it. Paul in his address to Timothy alludes to this.
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1Timothy 6:17-19)
Without a doubt, it is money and wealth in its various forms that ties man down to this life. For most, life becomes an endless pursuit of more wealth. Both the rich and the poor end up putting their hope on wealth and depending on it. For those who increase in wealth, the tendency to become arrogant because one’s wealth is unmistakable. The social structure in almost every society is measured by how rich or influential one is.
Yet, Paul is exhorting that the rich and those with influence, use their material blessings to do good without expecting a worldly return. That is what it means to be generous, and the willingness to share can only happen when one puts his hope on the coming age. When the reward expected for your investment is not of this world but eternal, you are investing for eternal life and that is when one truly takes hold of life that is truly life.
Investing for eternal life gets real when hope becomes the foundation for our lives. If I have the confidence that there is life beyond the grave and that this life will carry the appropriate reward for those who invest in it, then I can live this life rejecting the reward and the honor that is exclusive to this life. When investing for eternal life thus becomes the pattern for our lives, Christian living is at its best and most effective.
