An Investment That Yields Great Returns By: Elder Adewale Adewumi "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." Luke 11:23; Matthew 12:30 We are all familiar with the nature of making good investments whether in the stock market or in a private business venture. Every investment we make is with the expectation of good returns. We look all over the place in search of the one investment that brings us that magic harvest whereby all our longings for wealth can be satisfied once and for all. In the quest for this we sometimes hit the right one and enjoy good harvest, but there are times in life when the expected return just isn’t there. No matter how much we try, sometimes we find out that our labor has failed to yield that which we anticipated or bring back the rate we were promised. In recent years in the United States we have all been affected in one way or another by the outcomes of bad investment decisions made by others over which we had no control. Personally, I lost a few dollars following the crisis that attended the September 11 attacks on New York, Washington, etc. While building up a little nest egg and trusting the investment agent to make right choices, those of us who left our meager resources on Wall Street were aghast to find two-thirds of our investment gone up with the smoke of the Twin Towers in New York. Were they bad investments? Initially, not so, but the decision to continue proved costly to many of us. No matter how great the promise of return, some investments can turn sour if the right custodial decision is not made and that expeditiously. Our Lord Jesus Christ in the passage above urges us to invest in Him, to gather with Him, to bring our resources to Him. We hear Him say that anyone who is not with Him is against Him and he who does not invest in Him looses. The question now comes to us, "How do we invest in the Lord Jesus Christ to ensure the safety of our investment and the guarantee of great return?" First we must make sure that we have surrendered our lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ and that we are in Him. We must bring our heart and soul to the Lord and yield our all to Him. Jesus must have full control of our lives in order to guarantee us rewards both here on earth and ultimately when we stand before Him in heaven. We must invest our lives in Jesus Christ, yield our all to His lordship and stake our very existence on His never-failing love. When we invest this way we are guaranteed not to loose our reward. He is the wonderful counselor. He will never lead us wrong. Next we need to consider investing time in our young people in order to guarantee us a continuity in life and in our ministry. We have all heard of the cliché that our youth are the "church of tomorrow." While not disputing that statement, I have to add that young people are not just the church of tomorrow, but they are in the church today and deserve the investment of our time and resources and become the established church of today as well. Children are not an imposition to our lifestyle and must not be treated as such. Parents need to take time to nurture their young and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The National Primitive Baptist Convention Discipline states that we must teach our children the Lord’s Prayer, Ten Commandments, the 23rd Psalm etc "as soon as he/she is able." In other words, we must routinely teach them those doctrines that are the tenets of our faith as soon as they are old enough to learn. This is an investment that is guaranteed to yield great return. The Bible says, "Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will no depart from it." Training of youth is an investment that brings great rewards. As parents, we must spend time with our children. The scriptural passage under consideration says, "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters abroad." When we spend time to train our young people in the things of God we are investing in their lives that which will not only benefit them here on earth, but establish them in Christ for eternity. Parents who spend time attending the major events in the lives of their children many times find those children following the path laid down for them. While on this track we must take time to pay tribute to mothers all over the land. Mothers are the "keepers of the springs" in the lives of our children and they deserve to be honored. Without them, children are left without nurture. Children learn discipline from their fathers but they are nourished by the love of their mothers. Mothers who invest time in their children never lose the great reward of their investment. God bless our mothers! In conclusion, let me ask you this question, "How are you investing your life today?" One of my favorite pastors used to say, "Your time is your life." He said that is why we use the word, "lifetime" to describe the span of life. We invest so much time in our life every day. How we spend our time determines how we live our lives. How shall we then live? We must bring our resources to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must invest our life and our time in Him. He guarantees us great reward. An investment in Him is sure to bring much more than we can ask or think; but that statement continues by saying, "according to the power that worketh in us." Jesus must be Lord in our hearts. We must also take time to lead our young people to Christ and be available to them as role models. We must lead them in the path that leads to a life in Christ and away from crime. This kind of investment yields great return in this life and in the one to come, life everlasting. Our Lord Jesus Christ invested His time in the lives of His disciples. The return for that investment is now evident all over the earth. Starting with the witness of the initial twelve, the gospel is being spread all over the world and more and more people are coming to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior. The church is multiplying in many parts of the world including in those areas that had previously been closed to the gospel. The investment our Lord made in us is yielding great benefits in all believers. The joy of sins forgiven, of lives being redeemed, bodies being healed and hearts being mended and much, much more are living proofs of the good investment our Lord made in us. We must in turn invest our lives and times in the lives of others.