Spending or Investing?

We're hit, big time, these days with the importance of investing, aren't we?  I mean, we hear it on the radio, we attend seminars about it, we receive stuff in the mail encouraging us how to invest....

....And then the other shoe drops: Spending.  Every commercial, each ad in the paper, every occasion, all require that we, yes, spend!

So, what's the difference between spending and investing?  Is one better than the other?  Or perhaps, are BOTH needed?

At this time of year it is quite evident that spending is essential.  After all, there are gifts to buy, special punches and holiday dishes that require us to spend in order to have the ingredients needed, the supplies on hand, not to mention the "dailys" of living. Yes, spending is essential.

Could we say that we need to spend in order to invest?
We spend money in order to invest in our family: clothes, food, shelter, entertainment, education.... the list goes on and on.
We spend time, also, in order to invest in our family: Parent's adjust schedules to stay with, to take to, to pick up...so that our children have that care, those activities, certain memories...

I guess my musing this time is to encourage us to do both: to spend who we are, what we have, wisely, investing in that which is most meaningful, most important.

Jesus knows the impact of spending and of investing.  He knows there is only so much resource, so many minutes to invest.  I believe that is why He encourages us to BE in Him, first, and then DO as a result of that BE.  Make sense?  When "spending" DISTRACTS us from "investing", when it OVER-RIDES its purpose, OVER-STEPS its boundaries, then Jesus gently reminds us that there is only "one thing worth being concerned about."

So, friends, may we all enjoy this most Holy of seasons, the time of remembering when Jesus invested Himself in us.  He spent all of Himself when He became human, squeezing Eternal into Temporal.

May His Investment be well Spent in your life, in mine.

Ele