Time To Invest:Nothing To Lose, Everything To Gain

In part one of the series, Close To Comfort, Far From God? we talked about how playing it safe and not risking can actually make you feel as though God is far away from you. The truth is, by playing it safe, you are not activating your faith, so in reality, it could be you that is distancing yourself from God.

You must take risks and start setting goals, God-Sized goals that will only become fruitful by God's Intervention. That will activate your faith. These type of goals will draw you near to God, and I promise, God will draw near to you (James 4.8). In a nutshell, like Christian talks about, we have to stop hiding...see "Where Are You" and "Where Are You, Part II"...It's time to risk and make an investment in life that will leave a legacy for those we care about...

Time To Invest

Matthew 25.14-30 tells us the story about Investment. A man going off on a trip calls over his three servants, gives each one a sum of money according to their abilities.

Servant A gets 5 thousand dollars; Servant B gets 2 thousand dollars; Servant C gets 1 thousand dollars. Servants A & B, the ones with the most money, went off and worked and invested it, doubling their master's money. Servant C, the one with the least amount went off and hid the money.

The Risk Takers
The servants who had the most to lose because they had the most money took a risk. They knew an important law: The Law of Perspective. You see they had the most to lose, but instead, they also knew they had the most to gain. They risked and they doubled their money! Listen to what the master says to them upon his return home...

'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
Matthew 25.21-23 NIV

You see, if God can trust us with a few things, He will put us in charge of many things. God wants you to share in His happiness! What areas are you playing it safe in right now? Where could you risk an investment that will open up God's trust in you in order to put you in charge of many things?

The Safe Player

The servant with 1 thousand dollars did not understand the Law of Perspective. Instead of focusing on what he could gain, he worried about what he could lose. He played not to lose instead of playing to win....listen to his pathetic statement to his master...

"The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'
Matthew 25.24-25 MSG

Three Words Can Define You
Afraid...Hiding...Safe....These three words define this servant who received the 1 thousand dollars. He was not willing to risk and invest because he was afraid... Being afraid made him want to hide... He hid the money because he wanted to play it safe.

Like Christian said in his aforementioned post, Adam and Eve were afraid so they hid. Are you hiding from God? Are you hiding from your family? Your Co-Workers? Your responsibilities as a spouse, a parent, a teammate? Are you hiding in security and comfort when you know you should download that application, make that appointment, write that letter. Maybe you should ask them out or perhaps end the relationship. Maybe you should send you resume or give your two-weeks notice. What about signing up for the Mission Trip coming up or volunteering this weekend? I don't know what risk you need to take, but I do know this: I have never been farther from God than when I am playing it safe and I have never been closer to God than when I am living dangerously faithful!

The Response

"The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest."

"'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'

Matthew 25.26-30 MSG

I don't think I need to comment much after that type of response. You get the point. But the interesting connection The Holy Spirit led me to was this similiar yet not as explanatory response that God had with Moses when God gave him the calling to save the Israelites from the Egyptians...

God was telling Moses over and over again that He would be with him and tell him what to do and what to say. Moses was afraid and wanted to hide, he wanted to play it safe. So Moses kept coming up with excuses...take a look at this and let it sink in...

He [Moses] said, "Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!" God got angry with Moses.
Exodus 4.13-17 MSG, with emphasis

Now as mentioned, this is not as detailed a response as the master gave to his servant, but fill your name in the blank: "God got angry with_____." That is not something I want written about me. God got angry with Moses because God CHOSE Moses but Moses was afraid and was not willing to trust. Here's the thing. Moses finally went into "Beast Mode" and took a risk...He invested his life to answer the call of God...you can read about the 7 C's of Character study on Moses here, Do You See It? Part III and the blog on Exodus 3 & 4 here: "What's Next" Part III.

Full And Complete Lives
What it all comes down to is this: God wants you to live a full and complete life. The enemy is trying to bring you down. Get competitive with the loser. God has already defeated him for us, so our job is actually easy when you think about it. I will let Scripture speak for itself, but make a promise to God and to yourself that you will meditate on these three Scriptures and go live a full and complete life!

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

(John 10.10 NIV, with emphasis)

But you—you serve your God and he'll bless your food and your water. I'll get rid of the sickness among you; there won't be any miscarriages nor barren women in your land. I'll make sure you live full and complete lives.
(Exodus 23.25-26 MSG, with emphasis)

When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too.

His power extends over everything.
(Colossians 2.9-10 MSG with emphasis)

And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives,

full in the fullness of God.

(Ephesians 3.14-19 MSG, with emphasis)

Sin Of Omission
In his awesome book, In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, Mark Batterson talks about the Sin Of Comission and the Sin Of Omission...

Sin Of Comission: Regretting what you did

Sin Of Omission: Regretting what you did not do that you should have done

If you are Afraid, want to hide, and play it safe, then you will never risk, you will never invest your life and you will regret it for eternity. Meditate on the Law of Perspective and instead of thinking about what you might lose, Meditate on all that you could gain. Not only for yourself, but for your family, your community, and the world-at-large. It's the domino effect...What you do will not only impact history but will impact eternity. To paraphrase from the famous line in Mel Gibson's BraveHeart: "What you do in the present will be echoed forever in Eternity!"

I will close with a quote by German author Johann Wolfang von Goethe, whom I learned from in Mark's book that sums up how our greatest regrets will be the God-Ordained risks we didn't take...

"Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do."