Wednesday, February 17

Begin by lifting this song of praise to your God!

Psalm 103:1-5
Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things…

Thank God for all the benefits (blessings) you have received from him.

Today we continue building our understanding of Paul’s teaching about both God’s generosity and our own.

1 Timothy 6:17-19
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay of treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Here God’s word is teaching us not only the relationship between God’s blessing and our generosity – but also the relationship between our generosity and eternal life itself!

Notice the remarkable truth that when we are both rich in good deeds and generous with our wealth – we lay up for ourselves treasure for the “coming age.” Most scholars believe that Paul is reminding readers of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…(Matthew 6:20)” and is referring to the promise of heaven for believers. While we know that eternal life cannot be earned – rather it is the gift of God that is ours through faith alone – these verses do suggest that there is some kind of relationship between our generosity and our experience of eternal life in heaven.

While we cannot know exactly what this means – we can understand that Paul is teaching us that our generosity is an investment in eternity. Furthermore, that investment, Paul says, enables us to “take hold of the life that is truly life!”

So here’s a question for you to consider. How healthy your investment portfolio? Not the one you have with your bank or broker – but the one you have in heaven?

Of all the investments we ever make – only that which is given to God and for God will last forever. Ask God to help you make a priority of “investing in eternity.”

Pastor Brian Coffey