Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Investing in the Kingdom


For He is the living God, and steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.

He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel

from the power of the lions.” – Daniel 6:26-27

If there’s one attribute about Daniel that points to his success I think it would have to be faith.  Even when the hottest trial came, the most death defying crisis, Daniel was unshaken.  You can see how much faith a person has when trials come and their foundation is shaken.  Daniel wasn’t running away from God for any reason.  And he didn’t have to run to God when trouble hit because he was already there – with God – on a daily basis.  The closer you are to God, the harder the enemy has to work to shake your foundation.  Daniel’s was unshakeable.

Praying three times daily to the God you serve will change your life.  The most common reason we hear that people don’t serve God more is that they don’t have time.  Our most precious investment on this earth is not money – it’s time.  You can earn more money – but you can’t spend it if you run out of time.  Time trumps money.  Your days are numbered. Because time is so precious, it is important to think about how we are investing each day. 

Louie Giglio made a statement a few days ago that has stuck with me.  He said, “The degree to which we believe in heaven is mirrored in the amount we are investing in the kingdom work of God.”

We all have to work, that’s a given.  Food doesn’t mysteriously appear in our pantries, we have to earn it.  But we do all have free time.  The issue is how we spend it.  If we truly believe eternity is coming, it shows up in how we spend our time.  Are you spending hours on something that doesn’t matter?  Or are you spending hours on something that doesn’t matter eternally?  I think from time to time we all do.  We get wrapped up in “today” and we don’t think about how precious time is. 

Daniel’s life is an example of someone who invested in the kingdom work of God.  He didn’t sweat the small stuff – and he didn’t sweat the big stuff like a den full of lions either.  He just prayed, and served.  Daniel’s faith and service to God had eternal value.  He may have never preached, but his life did. King Darius’s statements about Daniel’s God show that Daniel was sharing his faith.  From his statements, he already knew that God was steadfast, protecting Daniel, in control, and that He delivers his children, and works signs and wonders.  Daniel’s life was invested well.  He profited from his relationship with God both here on the earth, and he will profit eternally from it as well.  

Today is a special day.  For many, today is their final day.  But even as you read that, you no doubt didn’t apply that to your life personally.  We don’t consider that this could be our final day.  But what if it was?  What if at the end of today God were to ask the same question that our family sometimes asks at the end of the day? 

“So, what did you do today?”

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