In this article, I want to challenge you with the question: “Is Jesus Lord of your time, your talent, and your treasure?”
Romans 10:9 (NLT)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
I want to draw your attention to the phrases, “Jesus is Lord” and “you will be saved” in the above verse, and I want to challenge you with the contrast of being saved with making Jesus your Lord.
Many have made a decision to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior, but they have never made the commitment to make Him the Lord of every area of their lives. A true believer is one who has made Jesus Christ the Lord of every area of their life.
Salvation is a decision made with the mind that leads a person into a relationship with God. Lordship is a commitment made with the heart that is sustained through daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Salvation is a product of a decision made with the mind; Lordship is a product of a commitment made with the heart.
Believing in your heart means acting on the Word of God, and practicing the Word refers to where you invest your time, what you do with your talent, and how you spend your money (treasure). At the believer’s judgment, Jesus will look at how we handled gifts, opportunities, and responsibilities in order to determine our heavenly rewards. In other words, He is going to ask us to give an account of how we managed our time, talent, and treasure while we were on the earth.
Question: Have you made Jesus the Lord of your time, your talent, and your treasure? What you do with your time, talent, and treasure here on the earth will determine how, not where, you spend your eternity.
We know that the person who has never placed his or her faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ will spend their eternity separated from the presence of God, but the person who has placed his or her faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ will spend their eternity in the presence of God, but they will determine how they spend their eternity by what they do with their time, talent, and treasure during their lifetime here on the earth.
Matthew 7:21 (NKJV)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Question: What does it mean to make Jesus Lord? Lordship means ownership. When you make Jesus your Lord, He now owns your time, your talent, and your treasure. God has told us in His Word where He wants us to invest our time. He has told us in His Word what He wants us to do with our talent. He has told us in His Word how He wants us to spend our treasure, which refers to our money. Ask yourself these three questions: “Where does God want me to invest my time?” “What does God want me to do with my talent?” “How does God want me to spend my money?”
What we do with our time, talent, and treasure here on the earth will prepare us for our eternal future, and this preparation takes place in three areas:
1. First, it takes place in the personal area of your life. This includes your character, your integrity, and your faithfulness. Is what you are doing with your time, talent, and treasure helping you prepare for your eternal future?
2. Second, preparing for your eternal future takes place in the area of building the Kingdom of God (through the local church). Are you using your time, talent, and treasure to help build the Kingdom of God through the local church?
3. Third, preparing for your eternal future takes place in the area of your personal influence in the lives of other people. Are you using your time, talent, and treasure to help other people prepare for their eternal future?
All Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of their lives here on earth.
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 (NIV)
9 So we make it our goal to please him…
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Many Christians have the erroneous idea that all future judgment is eradicated by their salvation, but remember this: where we spend our eternity is determined by what we do with the cross of Jesus and His saving grace, but how we live for eternity in His Kingdom is determined by the way we lived here on earth as believers.
I want you to think about three questions in light of 2 Corinthians 5:9 – “We make it our goal to please God.” Our primary ambition in this life should be to please God no matter where we are or what we are doing. Remember, what we do with our time, talent, and treasure has eternal ramifications. So let’s answer the following three questions:
1. Is where I invest my time pleasing to God?
Are you spending some time each day finding out what God wants you to do with your time, talent, and treasure?
2. Is what I do with my talent pleasing to God?
Did you know that God has given you enormous potential? Potential is what God thinks you can do with your life. God thinks you can do something enormous (great and wonderful) with your life.
3. Is how I spend my money pleasing to God?
Did you know that Jesus spent more time talking about money and managing material possessions than any other thing? Did you know that the New Testament talks about money and managing material possessions three times as much as any other subject? Did you know that Jesus said in Luke 16:11 that if you can’t be faithful with your money, you can’t be trusted with heavenly riches?
Final Question: How do I know if what I’m doing with my time, talent, and treasure is pleasing God? You will know by how you answer this question: “Is what I do with my time, talent, and treasure geared toward the world and its pursuits, or is what I do with my time, talent, and treasure focused on God and His agenda?”
1 John 2:15, 17 (NLT)
15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
The apostle John is talking to believers here, not unsaved people, when he says, “Anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” He is talking about the believer making Jesus Lord of his or her time, talent, and treasure.
All believers will stand before Christ and receive rewards based on how they lived their lives here on the earth. Many people will be shocked to learn that the majority of their time was spent on things that do not count for eternal rewards.