July 16, 2000 Humble Messenger

Humble Messenger
Volume 8, Week 29 July 16, 2000

Some Sound Investment Advice - Gary Henry
Investments of money involve some risk. However much we learn about the thing we are investing in and however cautiously we proceed, there is a chance that our investment may prove, in the end, to have been a bad one.  When that happens, we look back regretfully and wish we had put our money into something else.

But time is also a thing we "invest." We "spend" our time for various things - generally on the assumption that these will provide some kind of "payoff" to show that our time has been well spent. We may not always consciously think in terms of benefit, but it is nevertheless true that we do whatever we do on the grounds that there is something in our activities that we want, something "worth the time spent.

Time is, of course, the very stuff of life. It is the basic medium of exchange with which we purchase the objects of our desire. And as in Monopoly, where everybody gets the same amount of money at the start, everybody gets exactly twenty-four hours each day. We take those hours and do many and varied things with them, exchanging them for whatever it is that we want. Since no two individuals are exactly alike, no two individuals spend their time on exactly the same things. We each exchange our allotment of time for that which is of value to us, even if others think we are wasting time. Hour by hour we are sinking our time - our very lives - into one pursuit or another.

Now the important consideration is simply this: many people get to the end of their lives and come to the realization that they have invested their time in the wrong things. Early on, they may have thought that things like money, career, advancement, and social standing were worth large amounts of time. Later, when the investment has already been made, it becomes tragically obvious that other things would have yielded a more substantial return.

Someone has said that the only worthwhile use of life is the building of something that will outlast life. For the Christian that means pursuing spiritual ends (cf. Ecc. 12:13,14). Paul wrote, Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16).  And really, the pursuit of spiritual ends comes down, at the practical level, to investing our lives in the spiritual uplifting of people, particularly our families. The folks who are the happiest with the lives they have lived tend to be those who have spent life building godly relationships with other human beings, rather than chasing the American Dream.

With any investment, whether of money or time, there comes a day of reckoning. This is the day when we find out for sure whether our investment has been wise. Until that day, both foolish and wise investments may at times appear to be other than what they are. In the short run, silly investments may seem to pay off and sound investments may seem to work out poorly. It is only in the final analysis that the wisdom of the wise is fully revealed. In the investment of our time, even more than our money, the bottom line is that we need to spend what we have in exchange for the truly valuable equities, and not for things that perish with the using. There is just too little of life to invest any of it wrongheadedly. There comes a time when we will want to be pleased with the "basket" we have put so many of our eggs into for so many years. If we are not pleased then, it will be too late to change plans. Let the investor beware. •

Wednesday Evening Close  
July 19 Kris Emerson
July 26 Randy Smith
Aug 2 Charles Tu
Aug 9 Gary Tuttle

 Transportation for Zelma Bobbitt    
AUGUST   
Wed. 2 pm Eddie Crain
Sun. 6 pm 
Wed. 9 pm Eddie Crain
Sun.  13 pm Wally Ottersbach
Wed. 16 pm Eddie Crain
Sun. 20 pm Fontenots
Wed. 23 pm Rocky
Sun. 27 pm Jim Crain
Wed. 30 pm Eddie Crain

SCHEDULED TO SERVE

July 19 - Wednesday
Announcements: Wally Ottersbach
Song Leader: Jeff Bogs
Close: Kris Emerson
July 23 - Sunday
AM
Announcements: Jeff Bogs
Song Leader: Dwight Osteen
First Prayer: Lynn Michaels
Preaching: Steve Fontenot
Closing Prayer: Craig Moore
PM
Song Leader: Gregg Hutson
First Prayer: Clint Palermo
Preaching: Steve Fontenot
Closing Prayer: Jim Porterfield
Lordšs Table, AM & PM
Bread: John Lowrance
Fruit of the Vine: Ennis Osteen
Contribution: Craig Ottersbach
Assistant: Wally Ottersbach
If you are a scheduled song leader but know you will be unavailable, please notify Jim Crain.
If you are scheduled to serve in any other capacity but cannot serve as scheduled, please notify Doug Bernard.