Conference yukon::christian_v7

285.0. "Today's Investment, Tomorrow's Return" by CHTP00::CHTP04::LOVIK (Mark Lovik) Mon Oct 04 1993 15:14

    The following is the commencement address, given by Billy Graham at
    Wheaton College this past spring.
    
    In a few minutes, you'll walk out the door of Edman Chapel with a
    diploma in your hand and a life of uncertain length ahead of you.  For
    some, it will be a long life.  For others, it will be a surprisingly
    short life.  And if you reach my age, you'll wonder where the time has
    gone.  It passes so quickly.

    A student at a university once asked me what was the greatest surprise
    of my life.  I replied, "The brevity of life."

    Time is a nonrenewable resource that moves inevitably toward total
    depletion, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

    Time is our investment capital.  Our choice is to use it or lose it,
    either invest it or let it dribble away like sand through our fingers.

    Jesus told the story, in Luke 19, of a nobleman who, before going on a
    journey, commanded his stewards to invest his money carefully.  The
    Lord expects us to use what he has given us--whether it's money, time,
    or talents--in profitable ways.  And he promises his personal audit of
    our lives when he returns.

    Time is an equal opportunity employer.  Each human being has exactly the
    same number of hours and minutes every day:  1440 minutes, adding up to
    168 hours per week.

    In Psalm 90:10, the Bible indicates that our allotted time span on
    earth may be 70 years, or possibly an extension to 80 years.  The
    psalmist goes on to say, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we
    may gain a heart of wisdom."

    Let's think about the numbers in a typical lifetime.  The first 15
    are in childhood and adolescence.  We spend a total of 20 years
    sleeping.  So we have only 30 years left, and part of that time must be
    spent eating meals, building family and social relationships, working
    at our jobs, and figuring out our income tax.

    Rich people cannot buy more hours than the rest of us.  Scientists
    cannot invent new minutes.  Each day, we each have 86,400 seconds to
    invest.

    Time allows no balances, no overdrafts.  If we fail to use each day's
    deposit, our loss cannot be recovered.  Its not like putting savings in
    a bank and getting interest.  We cannot hoard time to spend on another
    day.

    Paul tells the Ephesians to redeem the time, because the days are evil. 
    "Redeem" is a word from the business world, and in this context, it
    means making the most of every opportunity that you have, every minute,
    every second.

    Our natural tendency is to count the days, but God tells us, _make_
    _every_ _day_ _count_.

    Time is the capital God has given to us to invest wisely.  So the
    question is, "Where do we invest it?"  God calls us to invest our time
    capital, our very lives, primarily in people.  Not in projects; not in
    possessions.  God invested his only begotten Son in us, as sinners--not
    because we were prime prospects to give him a good payoff, but because
    his heart is overflowing with love for us.

    When I was your age, I said to people, "There's only one thing I don't
    ever want to be.  I don't want to be an undertaker or a preacher."  And
    I put them in the same category.

    But one night, 55 years ago, I said with tears at the 18th hole of a
    golf course, "Oh God, I'll go where you want me to go and be what you
    want me to be."  I never dreamed what he had planned for the future.

    God's will, first and foremost, for all of us, is that you love him
    with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

    Then God's will for you is that you live a holy life, to become like
    his Son in your attitudes and actions, in your thoughts and words.  To
    be and behave like Jesus did, which means delighting in doing His will
    and serving others.  Jesus said, "I must work the works of Him that
    sent Me, while it is day.  The night is coming, when no man can work."

    What was the work of Jesus?  Simply to do the work of his Father and
    finish the work that had been assigned to him.  He lived and died for
    others--for his friends and enemies alike.  Jesus told his disciples,
    "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."  Invest in heaven.

    What are those treasures or investments?  They are people who need to
    know God.  I've seen these people all over the world.  I've seen them
    in every kind of situation, every kind of culture.  I know that what
    they're searching for can only be found in a relationship with God.

    Time is the capital that God has given us to invest.  People are the
    stocks in which we are to invest our time, whether they're blue chips
    or penny stocks, or even junk bonds.

    Jesus was willing to take a risk with twelve diverse disciples.  And he
    took a great risk with us.

    But when we talk of investments, everyone asks, "What return will I
    get?"  A meaningful, fulfilled life that will count for God is the
    dividend that we receive for putting our trust in Christ and our time
    into people.

    From my more that 50 years of experience, may I say to you young people
    today, as you face careers and the uncertainties of life, the best of
    all investments you can make is to help people come to the Giver of
    eternal life and peace, the Lord Jesus Christ.

    You can't count your days--but with Jesus Christ as your Savior and
    Lord, you can make your days count.

    You can invest whatever time is yours for a high-yield return in the
    lives of people whom you introduce to Christ.  Right now, you can
    decide to invest your life in such a way that someday, you will hear
    God say, "Well done, good and faithful servant.  Come and share in your
    master's happiness."

    So I would say to you today, don't just graduate.  Commence.

 Our brother Mark Lovik posted the basenote last year and I had saved it
 for something to give to my son Chris as he graduates from High School 
 today.  God has answered a number of prayers regarding Chris.  I prayed
 a while back that God would put friends in his life that were Christians,
 and praise God, He has.  While they may listen to music that I don't 
 necessarily agree with, they (his friends) do *love* and talk about the 
 Lord.  The funny thing is that I just now, in the last day or 2 realized
 that God had indeed answered those prayers!  How often do we do that?  Pray
 for something, have the prayer answered, and not even realize it?



 Anyway, I thought .0 would be an excellent graduation gift for Chris.




 Jim

    WELL, JIMBO...
    
    I went back and read the basenote... what an awesome gift to add to
    your son's graduation!
    
    And Praise God for answering prayer.