Investments

I have never been known to be a great investor.  In middle school, I attempted to gather my first “complete set” of baseball cards by purchasing the cards one package at a time.  After statistically purchasing more than 350 packages of cards and consuming 350 sticks of the most disgusting bubble gum known to mankind, I found myself a mere 20 or so cards short of a complete set.  I biked over to the local Card Shop to see what I could do to bring my ultimate card collecting goal to a conclusion.  After spending around $15 on the final 20 cards, I could proudly say that my investment was complete.  All in all, I spent an estimated $200 and collected the entire 716 card set of 1990 Donruss baseball cards  Today, that set could sell for $10-$15. I still own that set…maybe when the market peaks I will sell them.

When I graduated from high school, I decided to invest in a classic car.  I purchased a 1973 Camaro Z28, with the original small block Chevy 350, for a mere $1,200.  The beauty of these cars is that they can’t help but go up in value.  I’ll bet I could have sold that investment today for somewhere between $25,000-$35,000…if…I hadn’t let it sit and rust for 30 years.  Perhaps investments need to be cared for.

A number of years ago, my wife and I began to invest in some retirement accounts.  For a number of years, we tried to set money aside and pay into our IRA as we could. Then…things happen…you have more children, your financial advisor gets replaced with someone you don’t know, the world runs out of toilet paper and the next thing you know you haven’t made investing a priority over the last few years.

This last week, Sarah and I finally decided to kick start our investments again.  I brought our paper work to a new financial advisor…a friend of mine…and showed him what we have and asked for his opinions as to how to move forward. 

The first thing he told us is…“Well…It would appear that your last financial advisor, took your money but didn’t invest your money. “

“I’m sorry…what is that?”

“It looks like whoever did your investing…didn’t actually “DO” any investing. He put it into your account but it has just been sitting there doing nothing.”

It was at this point that we felt affirmed to officially fire our previous investing company and hire the new one.

Jesus speaks of something similar in Matthew 25:14-30. Here he lays out a parable of three servants who have been given resources to invest.  Two of the three servants invest well…and earn returns on their investments.  The third however, does nothing. He buries his money and does nothing with what the Master has given him.

May we come to see, all that God has given to us…and then invest into the lives of others because of the great generosity of our Almighty God.