Shake the Dust Off
When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say,‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ (Luke 10: 8-11)
In Luke 10 Jesus challenges the disciples to go out into the villages and speak truth to the people. He instructs them to go out into the villages and stay in the homes of “people of peace.” He wants the disciples to find good investments for the kingdom.
But He cautions that not everyone will receive their peace. Some hearts are hardened. They are closed off to truth and they will not allow the Holy Spirit into their lives. Since their eyes are closed, they simply will not see the light. Since God loves us so much, He gives us the ability to choose. We can choose to follow Him or we can choose to ignore Him.
Few things in life are as frustrating as dumping more time into a doomed relationship or plowing more good money into a bad stock. Great investments and great relationships can pay dividends for decades, bearing so much fruit. Bad investments drain your time, energy, and money.
Jesus is a buy and hold investor. For those who receive His word and hold Him tight, great rewards await. Sometimes we see the rewards in this life, but we will always see them in the next. He desperately wants his children to enjoy a life of abundance, so he holds on to us. Always.
The relationships you build are investments in your future, and so are the funds in your portfolio.There will be times in your life when you reach an inflection point in which you must decide: Do you further commit, or do you shake the dust of your shoes and move on? Some relationships are simply bad for you and are unhealthy, just like some investments in your portfolio should be sold. In both cases, these Four P’s will help you decide what to do:
Pray for wisdom to discern if you should double-down or walk away.
Plan your next step and enlist the wisdom of other believers you trust. Seek wise counsel. Satan can deceive you or me individually, but where two or three are gathered, Jesus will speak through brothers and sisters who care about you.
Prune. If anything is dead or not capable of bearing fruit, you may be wasting your time and energy. Continue to pray so that you are at peace with the decision.
Proceed. Take the next step without fear or regret.
We are all stewards while on this earth. Will you continue to commit more resources to bad investments?
Jesus, give me discernment on whether or not to commit more time and energy to specific investments. Help me to know when to forge ahead and when to move on.
