Investing in someone or a small group of people takes intentionality. At one point in my life I found one reason or another to push the pause button on this kind of investment. My eyes were opened to areas of life that had consistent investment and many of these areas were not eternal in nature.
Matt. 6:19-21 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
God so lovingly helped me see the importance of and value in people investment. I could now see the dividends and ROI from an eternal perspective. Wow! Since then I have had to meditate on and live out 2 Tim. 1:7 in order to have the strength, courage, and love to invest in others as a way of life.
I have been investing in people on the natural path of life long enough now and that it has become part of my muscle memory. It has become common to pray about who to encourage and who to spiritually coach. This journey of investment has been a life changer and has not only transformed me but has produced tons of spiritual fruit in the lives of thousands of people.
It is hard to know who to invest in. Sometimes we don’t even feel like investing in others. It is common for people to be worn out at the end of the work day and/or work week. That’s three strikes right there, strike one - we don’t know who to invest in. Strike two - we don’t feel like investing in others and strike three - we are often too tired to invest in others.
We see Jesus model for us how to challenge people at different spiritual interest levels. To the lost person he said, “Come and see.” To the believer he said, “Follow me.” To the worker he said, “Fish for people.” And, to the disciple-maker he said, “Bear much fruit.” Consider joining me and make a list of people on the natural path of your life. To the best of your knowledge mark down where you think they are spiritually. Lost - believer - harvest field worker or disciple-maker. Once you have your best guess of where the people are on the natural path of your life start praying for them more specifically. Pray for the lost person to see Jesus etc.
I took a video for you to see how we invest in people on the natural path of our life. Since we started having children in 1991 and had our last child in 2011 we have had children and teens around for many years.
Consider attending a disciplemaking webinar on this topic 2/19 from 10:30-11:45 CST. It will be on Zoom so you will need to get that App if you don’t have it. Once you have the App you can click this link or copy and put it in your web browser to join https://zoom.us/j/135040750 SEE YOU SOON!
Terms Defined
Natural Path of Life - where you go each day
Disciplemaking - following Jesus and helping others do the same