Risk & Reward

In my mid-20’s I waded into the waters of the stock market for the first time. Living off of a private school teacher’s salary I had little to play with anyway, but with a friend’s help, I went “all in” on a dot com mutual fund of penny stocks. I was so proud of being “in the game”. Anyone in this game knows that timing is everything. 

History records the infamous dot-com crash of 2000, and needless to say, we lost all of our money! Furthermore, needless to say, Hilary and I took a different investment approach in the years following. You may relate to my story, but I hope instead you have had great success in your stock market decisions. 

This does remind us of the risk and reward of investing. More importantly, we see a correlation of faith investment. When we consider Hebrews 11:23, Moses’ parents made a hard and bold decision to go against the rules of the land. Their choices paved the way for an amazing encounter with a princess, getting paid from the royal coffers to rear their own child, and being woven into the thread of God’s redemptive plan for His people. 

This is literally the stuff movies are made of. Have you seen “Prince of Egypt”? 

While our story may not be as amazing as Moses’, we can relate and learn from the investment of his parents to set an example of following God, exposing Moses to the love of God, and even connecting Moses to extended family to support His pursuit of righteousness.

We must take a moment to slow down and evaluate how we are investing in the faith development of our children. Perhaps we should spend less time and money in preparing them for a career in professional sports and prioritize some time in making memories as a family and investing in their faith.

I’m not saying we should quit travel ball and only participate in church events. In fact, that is not what I’m suggesting at all. I’m simply inviting each of us to prioritize our faith investment over our future security. This perspective will undoubtedly lead us to say no to some good things so that we can say yes to even better things.

If we never have time for family dinner, we may be doing too much. If we are fully outsourcing our discipleship to others, then maybe we are too busy.

Prayerfully join me in a personal inventory with a focus on intimacy with God in our own life that will translate into the transfer of intimacy with our kids and their faith. This is a safe and wise investment!