“Come now, you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.” James 5:1-2

Whenever we make an investment, one of the first things we consider is the return we will get. If we are putting money or effort in, we want to know it will be worth it in the end. Without knowing what the future will hold, we make our investments based on what we know and what we think will happen. In this passage, James addressed rich people and warned them about the kind of investments they were making. They were investing in what they believed was good but was only temporary and would soon be worthless.

The irony is, we often gain our riches with an eye on the future, but we may only be considering gain in this life. James gave this somber reminder about the future not to bring about misery but as a reminder that a true vision for the future has to be based on eternity. None of us want to invest in riches that will rot or waste money on things that will be destroyed, but this is the reality when we don’t have an eternal perspective. Investments based on eternity last because our God is everlasting. Living under His direction as His hands and feet is not only how we were meant to live now but also how we make eternal investments that last forever.

• What are the kind of investments you are making right now? How long will they last?
• What does it look like to make eternal investments? Who has shown you how to do that?
• Pray and ask God to open your eyes to the opportunities to invest in eternity with Him.