In the early Mumford & Sons song, Awake My Soul, Marcus Mumford shares the insightful bridge, “In these bodies, we will live, in these bodies, we will die. And where you invest your love, you invest your life.”
I feel like Jesus has been challenging me a lot recently with the idea of where am I investing in my life, and where should I be investing my life? Where am I investing my time, money, energy, thoughts, ideas, etc.?
Obviously, we know that the answer should be that we invest our lives in Jesus. But does that mean that we have to give up anything that isn’t the church, devotional time, and worship music? I don’t think so.
I think God wants us to invest deeply in things that we care about, whether that is sports, food, people, work, family, exercise, whatever. God doesn’t want us to give up on these things, but rather, he wants to be involved in all those things!
So what does that look like? I want to look at a few things that we all invest in, and see how we can let Jesus in on these places.
Invest your work into Jesus.
Now, this is a tough one, because we naturally invest in what we love, and not everyone loves his work. But maybe we would enjoy our work more if we saw Jesus in it. Do you ever look for Jesus at your work?
By that I mean do you look for opportunities to share the love, humility, perseverance that look like Jesus with your coworkers? What about with your clients or bosses? Maybe you need to extend yourself a little joy from Jesus.
God has given us the fruit of the spirit, not to hold onto and consume, but to share with those around us! And work is a great opportunity to extend those gifts, but also a neat opportunity to receive them as well.
Invest your entertainment into Jesus.
This has been one that God has grown me in a lot recently. It seems like everyone loves entertainment. Whether that’s a crazy NBA offseason, a summer filled with great movies and music, or maybe spending some good leisure time with family or friends.
How do we invest Jesus in our entertainment? I feel like entertainment, whether it’s sports, movies, music, or whatever, comes with a message. Some of those messages are really wholesome. Some of them are really inspiring. But some of them are contrary to the Gospel.
No matter what entertainment we invest in, let’s make an effort to hear what they are trying to tell us. And if we come across a lie, let’s not be okay with it. If we come across a truth, let’s embrace it whole-heartedly.
Invest your friendships in Jesus.
This is probably the most important investment. How can we show our friends Jesus, and how can we see Jesus in our friends? I think it comes back to looking like Jesus for them, and looking for how they are Christlike themselves.
God has gifted us with these friendships and they are being used to the glory of God whether we see it or not. So is everything in this life though. It’s not just our work, entertainment, and friendships. Jesus is everywhere in the everyday stuff of life.
We just have to look. What can you see? And the more we invest Jesus into our lives, the easier it will become to see him. So what are you investing? Pursue Jesus. See what he wants you to see.
Mitch graduated from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL, where he studied Evangelism and Discipleship with an emphasis in Intercultural Ministries. He blogs at his own website about how the Gospel impacts the way we ought our lives. He was a Golden State Warriors fan before it was cool and is considered a semi-professional Kan Jam player in his hometown.