May 9, 2026
Saturday, May 9
I once knew a young man who owned many shares of Enron stock. Unfortunately, this was in 2002, just after the massive scandal that destroyed that once-lucrative company. His shares were worthless. On the other hand, financiers daydream about choosing the “next big thing” in the economic world. They wish they could go back in time and invest in Apple or Starbucks before either company hit it big.
You should always be wary of anyone who claims to know precisely how to invest your money. But God has given us all the guidance we need on how to invest our lives. We know that those who repent and trust in Jesus won’t have to worry about where they will spend their eternity. But as we’ve seen in our passage this week, not everyone’s experience of Heaven will be the same. Jesus’s in Luke 6:35 makes a promise to those who love their enemies, help the downtrodden, and befriend the alienated: “Your reward will be great.” Since there’s rarely any earthly advantage in doing these things, we assume He’s talking about a Heavenly reward.
So…what sorts of rewards is He promising? Many stories and songs have been written in which those rewards are in real estate terms. Based on a dubious interpretation of one single passage (John 14:2), many believe the best of us will live in mansions, while others will reside in slums or trailer parks.
Personally, I think it’s more likely that our reward will be seeing all that God was able to accomplish through our faithfulness. Maybe our reward for loving our enemies is getting to see some of those enemies in Heaven with us. Maybe our reward for being kind to the poor is feeling the everlasting gratitude of our Father for taking care of some of His most vulnerable children. Maybe our reward for reaching out beyond our own particular kind of people is that when we’re in that spectacular gathering of people from every nation, race, tribe and tongue (Rev. 7:9-12), we’ll already have lots of friends there.
I don’t know for sure, obviously. But here’s what I believe: Every person who lives on the New Earth is going to be infinitely happier than they ever were in this life. But many of us will experience real regret that we ignored some of our Lord’s harder commands. We’ll show up in Heaven with the equivalent of Enron stock. And others, who don’t necessarily get a lot of publicity in this life, will spend eternity being celebrated in Heaven because they chose to live out the will of God with all their heart, even when it wasn’t easy or popular. That’s how to invest our lives.
I’m closing this week with a classic hymn, Rock of Ages. I think the line, “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling” sums up the attitude of a true disciple as well as anything outside Scripture.
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
