Investment vehicles such as stocks, certificates of deposit, or bonds, offer ROI (Return on Investment), making our money grow and build wealth over time.
Christians believe that all our money are from God and God’s. Money is not ours, we are simply stewards of it. Good stewards, therefore, must invest God’s finances so we can show ROI for it.
Jesus clearly paints this for us in Matthew 25:14-28:
The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man taking a long trip. He entrusted his money to his three servants in proportion to their abilities. To one, he gave five bags of silver; to another, two bags; and to the last, one bag.
“The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.” (verses 16-18 NLT)
When the master returned and listened to his servants’ reports, he rejoiced with the two servants who doubled his money. But to the servant given only one bag, the master was angry—the least he could have done was to deposit it in the bank to earn interest! The master then took away the one bag from this servant and gave it to the one with the ten bags.
This parable is not all about money.
It is about the gifts the Lord entrusts to us. Just as Jesus gives money according to individual abilities in this parable, He also makes us stewards of everything He owns in proportion to our talents. Some talents can be seen by what people do with their physical bodies, while others are seen in one's mental capacities.
In Ephesians 4:11-12 (NLT), God gave His children different gifts to use for His work. “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. He appointed some apostles, others prophets, others evangelists, others preachers and still others teachers.”
Whatever talents given us by His grace need to be invested so we can produce ROI, or concrete results, not for ourselves but to honor our Master.
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