LONG TERM INVESTING – Jan. 24

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!” Psalm 39:14

I recently was at a gathering of my profession. There is a reason that they don’t make sexy engineer calendars. It would take too long finding 12 candidates and no one would believe it anyways.  Generally, our specific slice of society is not a physically robust lot.

However, that doesn’t mean we don’t try.

Throw a bunch of competing consulting engineers in a room and the air becomes limited due its consumption in puffed up chests.  We are like a bunch of scrawny bantam roosters strut’n their stuff.  It is rather humorous the gravitas that is assumed.  I wonder how often God looks at such events and our self-proclaimed importance and goes “not so much.”

The recent Presidential Inauguration displayed a lot of grandeur and honor associated with the highest elected office in the United States.  There were a lot of  “very important” people in the specific places of honor.  The media documented every morsel of respect shown and every “roll of the eye.”  I wonder how often God looks at such events and these esteemed officials and goes “not so much.”

English: The inauguration of President Barack Obama Français : Cérémonie d’investiture du président Barack Obama (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The reality is that Presidents come and go.  Legislators come and go. Consulting engineers come and go.  People come and go.  It is all so very fleeting.

Tremendous investments are made daily in maintaining appearances.  Energy is expended in anxiety over what others think about our fleeting little lives.

Is that the best investment of the time that we have?

We have all heard the older generation lament how quickly time moves by.  It truly is disturbing to hear their words coming out of my own mouth but it has happened.  All one has to do is to peruse through old pictures to know the truth behind their lamentations.  Our lives truly are fleeting.  Even if my time here is 110 years, it still is nothing from God’s perspective.  It is fleeting.

Fleeting doesn’t mean irrelevant. Fleeting means scarce. We are careful with scarce things. We measure them out with purpose.

Fleeting is having one day to live; What will you do with it?

Our time on earth is like one day from an eternity perspective. What are you going to do with it? Are you going to strut around in your own self-importance? Are you going to be worried about what other people think about you?

Or, are you going to make investments that will last for all eternity?

PRAYER: Lord, help me to have good priorities.  Father, I don’t want to waste my life of things that will be ashes.  Give me an eternal perspective in that which I choose to be involved, in the words I say, and in how I treat other people.  Lord, give me the humility of being dust in the wind.  Amen