Leveraging Life for Eternity
This excerpt by J.D. Crowley comes from Gospel Meditations for Missions (Day 25: “One Day to Live”).
“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9)
I have less than one day to live. It helps me to divide my life into just three stages, three “days,” each one around 25 years long. The first got me past college and into marriage. The second began my adult life and took me to middle age. The sun’s already rising on my third and final day that will take me to my dotage.
How many days do you have left? If you’re in college, the sun’s already setting on your first day, and you have just two left. If you think the first day went by fast, you don’t know what fast is.
Fleeting Days
And so the Bible piles metaphor on top of simile on top of word picture to convince you that your life is short. You’re a fading flower. A mist. Grass. Dew. A shadow. Chaff. Smoke. From Job to James, God says that you will live a very, very short life followed by a very, very long eternity (Job 14:1–2; Psalm 39:4–5; 90:5–6; 103:15; James 4:14).
In light of this, I’m completely taken by Christ’s story in Luke 16:1–9 about a CEO who heard that one of his managers was crooked. He called him in and fired him on the spot. Well, not quite on the spot. He gave him a little time to get his accounts in order and turned in—maybe a day, maybe two. Hmmm. Sound familiar?
Shrewd Living
What would he do with his last day? He had a plan, a shrewd plan that would impact his future. With the last bit of authority he had left, he called in everyone who owed his boss money and, to their delight, gave them huge discounts on what they owed! The boss knew he’d been beaten, but what could he do? Managers have authority to do things like that, even managers on the last day of their job. (By the way, we don’t have to explain away this guy’s sin; Jesus called him “dishonest” in verse 8. The point of the parable is shrewdness, not honesty.)
It sure makes it easy on the Bible student when Jesus interprets His own parable: “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light” (v. 8). This is not a compliment to “sons of light.” He’s saying we Christians are often stupid—we don’t live consistently with the reality that we have just one or two “days” left on this planet and eternity stretching out before us. The world often lives more consistently with its values than we do. This manager leveraged every last ounce of his rapidly-fading authority to secure great advantage for his future. He was shrewd. How about us? Jesus implies that we’re more like a manager who spends his last day redecorating the office that he will soon vacate.
Eternal Impact
Christ follows up His interpretation of the parable with an application: “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings” (v. 9). Unrighteous wealth? He’s talking about your money and possessions. Eternal dwellings? He’s talking about heaven! Who’s going to receive you into heaven? All those people who became your friends, and then your brothers and sisters, because of the shrewd way you took your tiny bit of worldly wealth and your rapidly-fading time and leveraged them for eternal results.
Take your worldly wealth and fleeting time and put them to gospel use.
It’s all about gospel leveraging. You and I don’t have much. We’re not so gifted. We don’t have much money. Our time’s almost gone. But that’s what leveraging is all about. The gospel has the power to compound interest for eternity, so even a very small investment will yield unbelievable returns. The Lord Jesus is telling you to take your worldly wealth and fleeting time and put them to gospel use. The people you impact will line the streets to greet you when you come home to heaven. Leverage your life for God’s eternal glory and your eternal joy.
Let the gospel and eternity determine how you use your time and money.
Explore the whole book!
Gospel Meditations for Missions is a devotional book intended to stir ordinary Christians with the urgency for the Great Commission. Written by Chris Anderson (pastor, church planter, mission board executive), JD Crowley (missionary), David Hosaflook (missionary), Tim Keesee (mission board director), and Joe Tyrpak (pastor), each of the 31 articles is biblical, warm-hearted, and centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
