The scriptures are divinely designed to be put together. They reveal themselves to those who consider them.

In our quest to understand The Prosperous Life God desires for us, investing is one of the important topics. Sometimes, reading verses from other translations can give us greater light and understanding. When it comes to investing, Ecclesiastes 11 is interesting from the NIV.

Ecclesiastes 11:1, 2, 4, 6

1 Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. (Some translations say, “a profit.”)

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

4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

Procrastination is partly what keeps us living from paycheck to paycheck. Many times, there is no perfect time to start with investments. Just get started.

6 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.

God does not command us to invest our money, but He does not prohibit it either. But there are many implications that we are to invest the money He trusts us with as we just read above. One thing to remember is that wealth is not a large paycheck. If you have a large paycheck, once it is spent, you are broke again. Wealth is more long-term; it comes from investing part of that paycheck each time so that you can provide an inheritance for your grandchildren, a retirement for both of you, or help your church to grow and move God’s Word, etc. God gives us the power to become wealthy. He explains how in His Word.

When it comes to sowing and reaping, a verse that I think of is:

2 Corinthians 9:6  But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

The great man who was a Sower in the Bible was the Lord Jesus Christ. In a parable, he talked about the Sower going forth to sow. If you think about it as an actual seed, the seed could have been ground into flour and eaten or it could be invested/planted in a field and reap a great crop, thousands of times more seed than what was planted. Thus, a return on the investment.

Jesus did this. Not all the seeds he sowed landed on ears that truly listened and grew. But some did. He spent most of his time with his 12 apostles. Sowing. On the day of Pentecost, the crop had ripened, and then God began to reap the work that Jesus Christ had planted.

Notice Jesus did not invest great amounts of time with all the people, but mostly with his apostles. We, too, do not want to spread our investments so greatly that we cannot look after them. Some have said that 12 investments are about the most many people can handle. Ecclesiastes says seven to eight ventures or investments. Good numbers to keep in mind.

Jesus was not opposed to investing money, as it is implied in the parable in Matthew 25.

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (NLT)

Many translations use the word “invest” here. Jesus is speaking here about the Kingdom of Heaven, and he uses the proper use of money to illustrate his point. Then, he gives us the point of the parable at the end.: “^To those who use well what they are given, (talents in the Kingdom or money) even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.”

 So, investing is much implied in God’s Word. The Bible shows that investing is normal and expected. Living from paycheck to paycheck is not seen anywhere as a virtue. Once we start investing God’s money, we should pay attention to our investments.

Proverbs 27:23  Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

God does not give us great wealth all at once because we would not know how to handle it or since it did not cost us any great labor to get it, we would not pay as much attention to our investments.

Proverbs 13:11 Wealth hastily gotten will dwindle, but those who gather little by little will increase it. (NRSV)

Little by little, we invest and learn to see it grow, and we learn how to manage it.

Learning to be patient is required in investing and building wealth. Most investments take time. An oak tree takes many years to become large enough to harvest. Some investing we do will be of great benefit to our families in the generations to come. Some investments will be more short term as in planting a garden — planting in the spring and reaping in the summer and fall. Slow and steady wins the race. …

When we use up all our seed (money) each week, it leaves nothing to multiply or grow. We are not managing our money well. We are just using it all to live.

Proverbs 21:20 There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swalloweth it up.

Procrastination is a mistake. Let’s face it: it’s easy to procrastinate when it comes to investing in the future. Most people believe investing is important, but they put it off. They want to pay the bills first and buy a new car.

Proverbs 20:4 “Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.”

Investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Ben Franklin

God invested Himself in mankind. He worked all through the Old Testament, waiting for the right time to send His son. God and Jesus Christ worked together to bring the salvation of mankind to pass.  God started planting the seeds of salvation right after Adam and Eve sinned. Eventually, God reaps the return of His investment at the end of the world when He sends forth His angels to reap the earth.

Revelation 14:14-16

14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud! On the cloud sat someone who was like the Son of Man, with a gold victor’s crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

15  Another angel came out of the Temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Swing your sickle, and gather the harvest, for the hour has come to gather it, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”

16  The one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was harvested.

God has a great investment going on right now on the earth and in your life. He wants you to prosper as one of His children, and He has laid out the path to prosperity in His Word for us to follow. We are to be followers and imitators of Him and be great investors ourselves and thus bring glory to Him. This is another piece of the puzzle in the quest for The Prosperous Life. I leave you with these two verses to consider.

Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as at this day.

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things.