Investment Strategy

Matthew 25:14
 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them."
 I love this story! Jesus tells of a man traveling to another country. Before he left he called his servants together and gave them talents. To one he gave five, to another he gave two and to the third he gave one.
He did not give them these talents for reckless spending and at the same time he did not expect them to hold to them ether. What the master of the estate was expecting was a wise investment. He wanted his servants to take what they had been entrusted with and use it to grow his estate. In the same way our Heavenly Father has invested in us He has given us gifts and talents so that we might invest them into His Kingdom. In Ephesians 4:8 the Bible says,"When He ascended on high, He lead captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." My friends He gave us these wonderful gifts so that we may use them until He comes for us. We are to use them to bring glory to God while at the same time leading others to Christ. As a matter of fact I'll take a step farther. All of our ability comes from God no matter how great or small and He wants us to use them for Him. So my question to you is,"whats your investment strategy? This is important to know because you want your efforts to have the maximum effect as you invest in the Kingdom of God. Ecclesiastes 10:10 says,"If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success. So with that being said lets consider what we can do to make sure we invest wisely to build the Kingdom of God. First, a half way investment is not an investment at all. Why do we expect God to settle to a lower standard? He has never settled,......EVER! When they asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was (Matt 22:36-40) He replied,"Love the the Lord your God with all of you heart, soul, and mind! No where does Jesus say," Oh well I'll take half your heart, soul and mind if that's all I can get from you. God is not asking for warm bodies to take up space in His Kingdom! He wants passionate, sold out investors who love Him. He wants investors who submit to His authority and believe that investing in the Kingdom of Heaven the most important of all. Second, invest without dread. Dread can creep up on us if we're not careful, especially when we overload ourselves. It happens mostly because our investment becomes our god. We  must be careful not to get so wrapped up in the good things only to forget the most important thing,"Our relationship to God." He is the source of our investment, the one who has made it possible. He is our source of strength and JOY. In John 15:5 He said,"I am the vine you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. Third, Invest with expectation. There nothing like seeing the results of an investment in God's Kingdom. However we need to realize that it is the Holy Spirit who compliments, encourages and completes our investment. THIS IS A GOOD TRUTH TO KNOW! Knowing God is at work we realize His mercies are knew every day. We can always expect more, we can always expect new, we can always expect greater. God gives the increase every time.
 In the story of the talents we see that two of the servants invested their talents and were entrusted with more. They were considered good and faithful. Then there is the one who was afraid to invest his talent. He had to face his master with the unpleasant news that he just didn't have the courage.  What could have been a great partnership, would never be. What lives could have been touched, what victories could have been won. What experiences were awaiting the unwilling servant. He will never know!