Today I will:
And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? Luke 16:12 (ESV)
Paper clips, pens, photocopies, Internet access, long-distance phone calls, time around the water cooler, and a myriad of other "small" things are often a temptation for small acts of theft from our employers. They may just be little things that our supervisors may not even seem to care about, but habits of unfaithfulness in little things too often grow into larger and larger violations of privilege until we have set down a pattern of unfaithfulness and slothfulness in all of our work habits. The Message Bible says it this way: "If you're honest in small things, you'll be honest in big things; If you're a crook in small things, you'll be a crook in big things. If you're not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store?" (Luke 16:10-12 MSG).
Employees often feel unappreciated in their work and somehow subconsciously justify these little acts as entitlements they have because they are not making the money they feel they should, are not being treated with the respect they feel they deserve, or have been passed up for some advancement, project, or opportunity they feel they have earned. But the fact of the matter is that even little acts of theft are still theft. The employee who swipes office pens or spends time browsing the Internet for personal reasons on company time is no better than the little kid who shoplifts candy from the local grocery store. We think we get away with it if we are not caught, but all we do is solidify a pattern of unfaithfulness and cutting corners to get ahead rather than solidifying the work habits that will be a blessing to our lives.
Today I will:
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? Luke 6:11 (NIV)
Any investment program that does not look to the future is worthless. Why invest in something that will not be around tomorrow? Edwin Louis Cole used to say, "We sow to the future and reap from the past." If this is true, then the most valuable things to invest in are those that will be around the longest. Those of us who plan to spend our ultimate retirement in Heaven should think more about investing in eternity than in anything else.
It has been said that "you can't take it with you," but that is not entirely true. What we invest in that has eternal worth will go with us, namely the people that are touched through how we invest our time, talents, and treasures. Luke 16:9 NIV tells us to "use worldly wealth to gain friends for your-selves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings,"
Any investment program we plug into will demand wisdom and diligence if it is to be successful. We need to remember that not only should our plans include providing for our children's college education, a new home or car, our retirement, or any of a number of other worthy goals, but also investing in that which is eternal, whether it be a coworker, the needy who come to our churches, or the poor in a faraway land. Ten thousand years from now, which will have been the wisest investments? Only those that we can "take with us!"