Watches Vs Time

“For your own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.”

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Pam and I have had the privilege of taking many trips to South Africa to minister at our sister church, Jesus is Lord Christian Centre (JLCC). We have been blessed beyond measure and have learned so much from them.

Each time we are there, we are reminded again of the value of spending time with one another and hearing each other’s stories. When we tell them that it is so difficult in America to get people to sit down and invest time in one another, they remind us, “Americans have watches. South Africans have time.”

We get so absorbed with our schedules and deadlines that we simply don’t have time to invest in one another. It is too much of a sacrifice.

Pastor Jared reminded us this past Sunday that investing in someone else may seem like present suffering, but we are making an eternal deposit that will reap dividends both now and in the forever after.

As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8:18,

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

We all have the same number of hours in a day. The question becomes what we do with those hours. What are our priorities? Will we choose to do what we want because we can, or will we choose to put others before ourselves by saying to our own selfish desires, “I can, but I won’t. Instead, I choose to forego my own wants and use this time to invest in someone else.” The latter choice is an eternal investment.

Author Jo Miller once wrote, “By investing in others, you honor those who invested in you.”

And while I agree with that statement, I know the One I honor most is He who invested most in me – Jesus Christ our Lord.

Pastor Ken

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