worthwhile investments

It has been a while since I went for a walk.  I want to be consistent in this discipline. 

As I was waling back up the hill, I was thinking about all of the new hotels that I saw in south Texas when I drove to my Uncle Larry's funeral.  With the low price of oil these days, I can imagine that most of those new hotels have very low occupancy. This led me to think about how we invest in things that don't pay off; we see such a short time horizon, yet we spend ourselves so heavily on risky enterprises.

Then I realized how true this is in my own life with respect to how much time and effort I invest in building my little fiefdom in academia instead of focusing on investing in the Kingdom of Christ.  It sure is easy to listen to the worldly influences around me, telling me that I need to publish more papers, I need to bring in more money, I need to graduate more students, ...  It is not that there is anything evil about publishing papers or securing extramural research funding; I think the evil is in the "more".  At some point, I am over investing myself, when I should be investing my time loving my wife and children, and being a friend and disciple-maker.

1 Tim 4:7 ... train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminder for me to focus on investing in your eternal Kingdom, not worldly things that will fade away.  Lord Jesus, thank you for salvation and hope.  Holy Spirit, please empower me to live a godly life.  May I set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.