Investments

Ecclesiastes 11:2,6

“Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.”

“Sow your seed in the morning and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”

Being older, I have the advantage of seeing the progression of things, like the internet, cell phones, apps, and the price of things from milk to blue jeans. When I was a young kid, there was no internet or cell phones or apps. Your news came from the Walter Cronkite on the nightly news or your local news station. People received a thing called the “newspaper” every morning or every Sunday on their front porch courtesy of a young man with a paper route. Phones were connected to long spiral cord that went into the wall and the price of a jug of milk was a fraction of what it is today.

Malcom Gladwell wrote a book called The Outliers in which he goes into history and explains the rise of some of the most famous inventors, sports stars, and musicians of our recent history. He explains some common dates and practices that somewhat explain things like hockey all-stars, computer moguls, rock bands and more. One of the things I got from the book is the 10,000 hour rule. Malcom Gladwell boils down some successes in music or computer programing by this 10,000 rule. Simply put, it is when someone does a task, like computer programing or playing in a band for 10,000 hours or working on that task or hobby for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for almost 5 years. Stop for a second and see if anything you have done meets the guidelines of this rule. If so, then in then you might be called an “expert” in that area.

Solomon, being an older man when he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, was by all means an expert at many things. In chapter 1 verse 13 he writes, “I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.” By this time in his life, I am sure he has poured into many things in life for over 10,000 hours. Having been given the gift of wisdom by God, Solomon was a man to be reconned with. The Bible tells us that many kings would come and listen to him speak great wisdom.

One of many areas he was a expert at was investing. Yes, the stock market had not been invented yet and all the fancy investment strategy books had not been written. However, the act of investing your money into ventures to make money is as old as time and Solomon was really good at it. The Bible tells us that his kingdom was so big and so wealthy that there was no equal among kings in his lifetime. (1 Kings 3:13) If we had someone to listen to for investment advice, it would be him.

Our verses come as a simple investment strategy from Solomon to us. He tells us in verse 2 to invest in many ventures, eight according to the verse, so as to protect against the down side of disaster of any one of them. He also drops a nugget of wisdom verse 6. Simply put, don’t be lazy. Get up in the morning and work and when the evening comes make sure your hands are not idle. Proverbs 16:27 tells us, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece.” Having raised 5 daughters, I am very familiar with motivational speeches that deal with this very subject.

Weather you are investing in stocks, businesses, or any other venture, broadening your investments will protect you against the downside of disaster. I have plenty of stories where I did not heed this warning. One of which came when the stock market fell in 2000. I had invested over 50% of my 401K into the my companies mutual fund that it had created. Don’t judge, I know it was stupid to do so now. Well, after the fall, the mutual fund collapsed with the stock market and I lost a lot along with everyone else. What made matters worse, is that the fund closed down with no hope of getting anything back. A classic example of putting most of you eggs into one basket. I did not heed the warning in our verse today.

We made it all back now and God is good. Today, reflect of you what your spend your time doing because this is what you are investing in. The Bible tells us that His word will never return void and it will accomplish what is set out to do. (Isaiah 55:11) That is the best investment I can think of! God’s rate of return is 100% all the time and it promises to do what is says. Investing is a great thing and we should do that for our financial strength, but we also need to invest in the Word of God. If you looked at your time in the Word of God, can you say that you have done your 10,000 hours? Start today!

Prayer: Father as we invest our money in different projects for future and for our jobs, help us to realize that the investment that pays off all of the time is spending time in your Word. Help us to get into the Word, study it, read it, and do it every day. In Jesus name, amen.