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“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who calls his servants and entrusts his property to them…” Matthew 25:14

“To one he gave 5 talents, to one he gave 2, and to another he gave one, each according to his ability. Then he went on a journey.”

My son will love this GMU- he teaches investments at the college and is a financial advisor for his profession! It’s all about investments! In what do I invest? Not just my money (he has all of mine! I just tell him, “Take care of me now or take care of me later!”) Pretty much everything in life is an “investment.” Some are good, some not so good, and the determining factor in whether it was a good or a not so good investment is my returns. What is the “return on my investment?”

If I invest my late nights in video games or Netflix then the return might come in the morning when I can’t function at full capacity because I’m tired. Or it may come later in life if I struggle with priorities.

If I invest in my friends (which is a good investment) but I do it instead of studying for my test, the return might come when I see my grade.

On the other hand if I choose not to invest my life in my friends or the people around me, I should not be surprised that my lack of investment produces a lack of friends who are there when I need them.

If I choose to drop out of school and “get a job,” I can still live a very fulfilled life and my job can still be honorable, but I should not expect to get the same career return as the person who invested in their education. The average college graduate, I read recently, makes 1 million dollars more in a lifetime than the person who did not go to college. It doesn’t mean one job is better than the other, it just means the “return on investment” cannot be expected to be the same. In that way I’m not much of a socialist am I!? ƒÿè

And if I choose to live my life apart from God and ignore Him or place no priority in my life that is centered around Him, then I can’t expect, when the storms of life come, to have a solid foundation on which to weather the storm. I can expect my return on investment to be limited to what I can muster up by myself. God still loves me but if I don’t invest in Him now, I can’t expect any guarantees on His peace and strength when I need to tap into something to survive the tough times. He is still merciful and I might survive, but is that a risk I want to take as I plan for my future?

As the story went yesterday- the dog I feed is probably the dog that’s going to win. So, in what am I investing today? Because that will indicate what I can probably expect when I need to tap into my resources and discover what kind of return might be there. I invest with my son, but that is NOT the most important “investment” I am making. He takes care of my money; I take care of the rest of my choices and my choices today indicate the probability of where my returns, or lack of returns, will probably be later when I need them. Today’s choices do affect tomorrow's outcomes.

Have a great day investing wisely,

Pastor Rich

Quote for the day: "When you make a conscious choice to be happy, no one can take it away from you because no one gave it to you: you gave it to yourself." Unknown

PS Virtual Family Worship- Worship and Praise with Jordi will take place tonight at 7pm via Instagram Live @ the.well.worship

PPS “Today in Quarantine,” presented daily (as in 7 days a week!) at 4pm by associate pastor Renae Cross at CVC. Join her by friending her on Facebook for the 15-30 minute interactive spiritual connection with God and your young adult friends. It all starts at 4pm each afternoon

PPPS “Nightly Check In” @ 7pm for 15 minutes. Join via Zoom ID # 529 282 199

PP..S And tomorrow be sure and come to “The Well” via YouTube, 10:15am.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYi6Wl4BefTeUeKU9lALgpg

PP..SS To all my off-campus readers, there was a little glitch in the system and I don't think any of you have been receiving GMU for a few days. I'm still writing and I think the glitch has been fixed. If you have not received any GMUs for the last week and want to see what we were sharing just reply to this email and I'll send the old ones. Sorry for the confusion.

A musical blessing from me to you today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db0t_NUq5bw