Eternal Investments

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

How true that is. Said by Jesus himself, you can't beat that. Many a time we do work for our own recognition. As one who has done that many times I know why. Why not? Who wouldn't want to be recognised? Being recognised is not wrong, but working for recognition is. The sole purpose for our service is to serve and that alone. We do not serve for reward, but we already know we'll be rewarded for it in heaven anyway. God never gave us an instruction manual on how to attain our eternal life. No matter how good we are, we are still worth nothing in comparison to what has been given to us. There is not condemnation in our love of Christ and there is only the most graceful salvation. I'm slowly to let go my aspiration for any source of acknowledgement, though sometimes the thought creeps in. God already acknowledged that I was worth the life of the only person who deserved eternal life. Out of good will one day, I will not work to earn my salvation but to do my best to help others find theirs. I'm not there yet, but I know that's what my whole life is for, and I have a whole lifetime ahead of me to try and get there.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

You know my whole life, I've wanted money. I thought with money all my problems will fade away. All the talk about contentment and my dream job was all for the money. The endpoint stayed the same for me all this time, since I was six, but the reason why changed. I know that God does not want us to follow money but to follow him. I believe God wants me to feed the hungry, to help the poor and to counter injustice as much as I can. In the world today, you need money to do so. God could just rain food from the sky, but there's a reason he doesn't. It's so we have our duty to fulfill. To share our riches - in material or in spirit. I've never heard of an incredibly rich Christian. Rightfully so, because people step on others to attain incredible monetary riches, and a man who follow Christ, should not keep money for himself if he does. I want to be the fastest billionaire to lose his fortune. I want enough so that people might have to help me pay my bills whilst my money is out there trying to help those in need. There will be some that I leave for my children. I always dreamed of a secure life, an easy life. Now I dream of one where I work seventy-two hour weeks so someone else can have one. You cannot serve both God and money, but you sure as hell can serve God with money.