Is God looking for a return on His investment?

In one of his sermons, C. Philip Green tells the following story …

In one little Midwestern town, Miss Jones had the distinction of being the oldest resident in town. So when she died, the editor of the local paper wanted to print a little article remembering this dear old lady, except he couldn’t think of anything to say when he sat down to write the article. Miss Jones had never done anything terribly wrong. She had never spent a night in jail or had ever been drunk. On the other hand, she had never done anything significant.

With this still on his mind, the editor went down to the local café and there ran into the local funeral director. He too was having the same trouble. He wanted to put something on Miss Jones’ tombstone besides “Miss Nancy Jones, born such-and-such a date and died such-and-such a date,” but he couldn’t think of anything to write.

The editor decided to go back to his office and assign the job of writing up a small article for both the paper and the tombstone to the first reporter he saw. When he got to the office, he ran into the sports editor, who got the assignment. So somewhere in some little community in the Midwest there is a tombstone which reads:

Here lie the bones of Nancy Jones,
For her life held no terrors.
She lived an old maid. She died an old maid.
No hits, no runs, no errors.

I’m afraid to say, that’s the way many Christians live their lives. They’ve never done anything terribly wrong, but they never accomplish anything significant for the Lord.

Preachers talk a LOT about being “great,” while many of their listeners have no such interest. Many are happy successfully raising a family, making a living, being a decent friend, and living in peace. Few really entertain dreams of grandeur or greatness. Few would have anything overly notable if they had to write their epitaph today.

While God may not expect you to be the next Billy Graham, or maybe He doesn’t have “greatness” penciled in for your life, He does expect us to do something with the lives, talents, and resources He has blessed us with. He expects us to make something of a story of the life He’s given us, He expects some kind of return on the investment He had made in us. Here is how Jesus explains that expectation …

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last — dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

“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.

“After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

“The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

“The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,’” Matthew 25:14-30.

If you had to write your epitaph today, what could it include?

If you had to stand before God today and have Him examine what you’ve done with the life He’s given you, what return on His investment would you have to give Him?

The whole of our lives is a stewardship, to be lived for the glory of God and for His benefit so that when Jesus Christ comes back, we’ll be able to show Him a good return on what He has entrusted to our care on His behalf. It’s not a matter of being “great” but living well.

Scotty