Secret Investments
I once heard a story of a very rich lady who
was able to retire at a young age. A
reporter asked her how she had gotten so rich?
What was her secret? She said
that she had an investment strategy that worked well for her. She said that when she was younger, she
wanted to buy some stocks but didn’t know which ones to buy. She decided to use the alphabet. So, she first bought stocks that started with
an “A” and bought Apple and AT&T, and Amazon, then she bought stocks that
started with a “B” and bought Bank of America, Best Buy, and Boeing, and then
she bought stocks that started with a “C” and so on. A very simple strategy
that worked very well for her.
There are a lot of “secret” investment
strategies out there. Some may
work… and some may not. Even the
stocks mentioned above may not be the best investment for the future. We just don’t know what the future may hold. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:34 “Don’t worry
about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own.” Because of the temporariness of life - Jesus
encouraged people to place their priorities on spiritual things. So, rather
than try and give you some secret investment strategies in material things – here
are some “secret” investment strategies you could make in your spiritual life.
I was reading what Jesus said in “The Sermon
on the Mount” in Matthew chapter 6 and noticed that He mentioned three things
in a row that involved doing something in secret. Starting in verse one, Jesus encourages us to
give to the needy in secret, pray in secret, and to fast in
secret. He tells us that if we do these
things in secret – then God will reward us in heaven, and He will even reward
us openly in this life! Let’s talk for a
few minutes about these “secret” investments and the value of doing things that
most people do not see you doing.
“So, whenever you give
to the poor, don't blow a trumpet before you like the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets so that they will be praised by people. I tell
you with certainty, they have their full reward! But when you give to
the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may
be done in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
(Mtt.6:2-4 GNB)
There is an important principle in this chapter. The principle is the value of doing things for
God without people noticing. Sadly, many
times when we do good things – we naturally want to broadcast it to
others. Whenever I see someone going out
of their way to make sure people notice what they are doing – I think to myself
that they have probably short-circuited their reward in heaven. Too many times preachers will give a message
about being blessed now and being prosperous now and being rewarded now. Jesus spent a lot of His time trying to
motivate us to place a lot of value on doing things in such a way that our primary
motive is to be rewarded by God in Heaven and NOT just to be paid back in the
here and now! Jesus said in verse twenty
of this chapter, to “store up treasures for yourself in heaven, where moths and
rust cannot destroy”.
I
know that there is value in doing things in public sometimes, but I think that
should be the exception and not the rule.
We should be very hesitant to let people know that we are giving to the
needy, we should pray far more in private than we do in public, and when we
fast to try and get closer to God – we should try our best to not let anyone
know that we are skipping a meal.
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and
pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners so that everyone will
see them. I assure you; they have already been paid in full. But when you pray, go to your room, close the
door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what
you do in private, will reward you.”
(Mtt. 6:5-6 GNB)
Jesus
encouraged us to pray mostly “in secret”.
When I was pastoring a Church years ago, I was praying a lot in public
in the service. I was aware of this
principle, so I tried to pray far more in secret than I did in public. I do not think that the Lord is against
praying in public but wants us to invest more of our time in praying in such a
way that only the Lord knows that we are praying. There are a lot of benefits to praying in
private. We can be more open and honest
when we are talking to God in private.
There may be some things that we would be gossiping about if we
mentioned them in public, but we can take them to God in prayer when we are alone
with Him. There may be some things that
we should not talk about in front of others, but we should discuss them one on
one with the Lord. Have you discovered
the value of praying in secret? Have you
seen the Lord bless you when you have made private prayer a practice? I can most certainly testify that doing
things in secret is well worth the effort.
“And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They
neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I
assure you; they have already been paid in full. When you go without food, wash your face, and
comb your hair, so that others cannot know that you are fasting---only your
Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in
private, will reward you.”
(Mtt. 6:16-18 GNB)
Have
you discovered the value of skipping a meal or two, or three? There seems to be a lot written on the
physical and mental values of skipping a meal from time to time. It is great to do things with a quick payback,
but what Jesus is trying to get us to do with each of these secret investments
is to do things that may or may not have an immediate payback. He wants us to be motivated to do things that
have a payback many years in the future.
He wants us to do things for a heavenly payback. I think that waiting to get our payback in
heaven, teaches us to practice self-denial.
I think that it is our selfish nature to want the recognition now and it
helps us build spiritual maturing and patience to wait and get our ultimate
recognition from God. When you give in
secret, pray in secret, and fast in secret – then you are laying up treasures
in heaven. That is a great thing you can
do.
When
you do things just for the recognition of God, it is remarkable that God will
bless you not just in heaven, but in this life also. That is the wonderful paradox of the Christian
life. We put things in this life second
to God and then put our faith in Him to take care of us. We deny ourselves and follow Him and He shows
us that when we do that, He takes care of all of our needs. What a blessing to know God and put His words
into practice and find value in these “secret” investments.
Written by Lee Malden 2022
For more information: email lmalden@hotmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment