Where Are You Investing?

I have always been an entrepreneur at heart.

If I saw a way to make money or invest resources for a profit, I have always been quick to jump in.

When I was a Junior in High School

The student body was protesting the school board for dismissing a beloved teacher.

In response, the entire high school walked out in protest. Honestly, I didn’t feel strongly about the issue either way.

What I did see, however, was an opportunity to make money.

It was close to lunchtime when the students walked out, and they needed to eat.

A couple of my buddies and I raided their parents' refrigerators.

We set up a grill in the school parking lot and started selling hot dogs and soft drinks.

As I recall, we made a good amount of money, so much so that after the school board rehired the teacher and everyone returned to school for the last few hours, we played hooky and spent our earnings going bowling and doing some other fun things.

We seized the moment and invested time and resources for profit… however, just as we will see here in James, we spent it on ourselves and frivolous things, rather than on anything of eternal value.

Read James 4:13-5:6

As a reminder, the theme in James over the past few weeks has been humility.

James 4:6-10 emphasizes the importance of living humbly before God.

James 4:11-12 focuses on living humbly before our fellow man, especially other believers.

Today, we continue this theme of humility, and what we will see is that James is urging us to live humbly in this world.

As we read this passage, the thought that comes to my mind is how little has changed over the past 2000-plus years.

You may notice that both sections, verses 13-17 and 1-6 of chapter five, use the same phrase “Come Now.” This serves as a way of saying “You! Listen Up!”

James emphasizes how people of his time struggled, just like us today, relying on their own strength without consulting the Lord or seeking His will.

In the first six verses of chapter five, he adopts a very stern tone, similar to that of an Old Testament prophet.

He further warns the wealthy about the foolishness of their actions.

He even reminds them that their actions are comparable to murder, as stated in James 5:6.

But his warning is so powerful, he evokes the image of “the Lord of Sabaoth.”

That is the “Lord of Hosts,” or “the Lord of Armies.”

This emphasizes God’s sovereign authority over all powers, dominions, forces, and realms.

So understand that if you treat people the way the rich are described in these verses, you better be careful because God, the Lord of Armies, will not take this lightly.

That is a lot to digest… the question is how or what must we do to be different from the examples given here by James?

What I want to suggest this morning is that James offers us two main points for living with humility in this world, especially as we invest in business, work, and our daily possessions.

The first investment principle is this…

Invest Within God’s Will

In James 4:13-17, James warns believers about the importance of living according to God's will.

When we make plans, are we doing so with humility before God?

Proverbs 27:1 NASB95

Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

God approves of wise planning, but He wants us to consider His desires in our planning. All of our plans should include the parenthetical statement, as one writer put it,  “You may interrupt. You may step in. I welcome you to come in and change the whole scene, and I’ll accept anything from your hand.”

What is interesting about these verses is that I don’t think we take planning without God’s will in mind seriously enough.

We plan activities for the church

We plan trips for ourselves

We plan business and work ventures.

But as many of us know, plans can change in a moment.

Life changes quickly and sometimes harshly.

James is quick to remind us, in verse 14 “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

As believers, it is our joy and duty to bring glory to God in all things. Since life is short, one way we do that is to make sure we are doing things according to His will.

Why is this a problem? What harm is there in making plans? None, unless we exclude God from them. When we act as if we know better and leave Him out, then, as verse 17 reminds us, it is sin.

James 4:17 NASB95

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

As believers, we must recognize how urgently we need to rely on God for everything.

Even Jesus sought God’s will over His own. John 6:38

John 6:38 NASB95

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

In the garden, just before Jesus was betrayed and about to face His own death, He submitted Himself to the will of the Father.

How can we then think we can tell God, “I’ll call my own shots. If I need you, God, I’ll give you a call. I’m glad you’re there, but I so enjoy this feeling of independence and self-sufficiency.”

This tendency, this way of thinking, is considered sin according to this passage. It is arrogance, and the proper response is to submit humbly before the one who sees the beginning from the end and cares for us more deeply than we can imagine.

So, we should plan, YES!

But plan with an open hand, understanding that our plans may change according to God’s will.

The first principle of investing is planning our lives according to God’s will.

The second is that our investments should focus on eternal value rather than earthly gains.

Invest Eternally

I remember hearing someone say one time, “the one who dies with the most toys, wins!”

That couldn’t be further from the truth… and yet we are all susceptible to thinking like the world thinks, aren’t we.

The world tells us that success is about accumulating things…

We buy new cars.

We have more clothes in our closets than we will ever wear.

We collect things, save things, and hoard our resources.

We boast about our accomplishments and our newest purchases, ultimately bringing glory to ourselves instead of God.

We completely ignore His sovereignty and grace in our lives, which have enabled us to gain the wealth we possess.

This thought, by the way, is not something new with James. Moses even warned the children of Israel about this very same subject. They were about to enter the Promised Land, and he says this…

Deuteronomy 8:11–14 NASB95

“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

This warning from James is just as relevant to the people of Moses' time as it is to us today, because all of us, when things go well and we are satisfied, with clothes, bills paid, and no problems on the horizon, begin to think we somehow have accomplished it ourselves.

Jesus tells a parable about a businessman who focused solely on worldly investments.

Luke 12:16–20 NASB95

And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’

This man was a shrewd businessman. He did very well for himself, but the one thing he forgot was that it is by God’s grace that he had what he had.

There was no effort to consult God about his actions.

There was no mention of caring for others.

There was no mention of giving back to the Lord.

Everything focused on what he could do for himself.

So that begs the question:

Is it wrong to have things? No!

Is it wrong to be rich? No!

But if our reliance is on our wealth and not on God, who grants these things to us, we are sinning.

Just like the parable, we must understand that things of the earth fade away and hold no true eternal value.

God “The Lord of Hosts!" will not sit idly by while we worship our worldly treasures; it is an offense to Him.

However, when we invest our resources, finances, and treasures in the kingdom of God, our return on investment (ROI) is guaranteed!

You can’t find a better business deal than that! What earthly investment guarantees an infinite return? None! But God does…

That, my friends, is a business deal that any person with any sense would take without a second guess.

How do we do this?

Ephesians 2:10 NASB95

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ahh! So what are Good works?

What does that look like?

We give of our time, our resources for eternal causes...

We do this by helping those in need

By contributing to missions

By supporting the advancement of God’s kingdom, whether through the church or other parachurch ministries...

Sharing the gospel with others.

Engaging in areas that hold eternal value

Helping those who are in need

Committing to praying

Committing to reading God’s Word

Stepping up and meeting needs within the church and other ministries that promote God's kingdom.

The list is countless, but as we seek God’s will, He will guide us into good works for His kingdom, enabling us to invest in a treasure that will never fade.

Unlike the items that waste away from James 5:2-3, these will last for eternity.

Matthew 6:20 NASB95

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

I was encouraged by a story I read of Rick Warren…

As many of you may know, Rick Warren founded and pastored Saddleback Church in California. The well-known preacher became wealthy from the sales of his book The Purpose Driven Life. As his income increased, he and his wife decided to return his salary from twenty-five years of service to the church and to serve without pay from then on. From the earnings of his books, Warren and his wife practice reverse tithing, meaning they give 90% and keep 10%. In 2004, this 90% amounted to $13,000,000. Some might say Warren has already received his reward for his generosity by making it so public. However, he claims he did this because, as he gained popularity and wealth, he anticipated the skeptical media would ask about using his religion to get wealthy. That’s when he chose to give away 90%. He didn’t want his motives to be questioned.

Now, the Lord ultimately knows the man’s heart, but what an inspiring example of living out what we preach—giving 90% and keeping only 10%.

Would you or I do the same?

Let’s Pray.