Which Way Are You Going?

“Are you going the way of the righteous—that leads to life—or the way of the wicked—that leads to death?”

This was the question I posed recently to a local church congregation in response to Psalm 1:

Those who delight in and meditate upon God’s Word are blessed. They are “like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:3).

Eternity. It’s a long time. It’s forever. Yet oftentimes, we focus only on the “here and now.” But as 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, one day, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

In Psalm 90:12 Moses implores God to, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” In Compass’ Building Your Finances God’s Way financial discipleship study, we partake in an exercise in which we imagine that eternity is like a piece of string that goes on forever. Then we imagine that our days on earth are but a short length of that string, and that our days left on earth are even shorter than that. 

It can be a sobering thought when we come to realise that our time left here may be less than the time we’ve already lived. 

But this can also be an invaluable exercise in helping us maintain the eternal focus and awareness that we need to invest our lives and resources in efforts that will count for eternity.

What legacy will you leave behind?

How can you best steward the resources and possessions that God has entrusted to you and use them to bless future generations?

Our responsibility as a financial steward is this: that we be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). And God has given us some 2,350 verses in the Bible that teach us His perspective on money and possessions. Through following His financial principles, our fellowship with Christ can be strengthened, and we can be prosperous in a way that goes beyond the physical and material to the spiritual and eternal. 

We don’t need to fear judgment. Instead, when our time on earth is complete one day, God longs to utter the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23).

This is the way that leads to eternal life: being in relationship with God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and then delighting in His Word, which is more precious than gold and sweeter than honey from the honeycomb (Psalm 19:10).

The decisions we make today have an impact for eternity. 

“Which way are you going? What changes do you need to make to live your life with an eternal focus?”

Yours in His Service,

Gwenda Jayawardhana

Founding Member, Compass Australia

AUTHOR BIO 

Before being called into ministry, Gwenda was a CPA and worked as a management accountant for an engineering company for three years. In 2017, she graduated with a Master of Divinity from Malyon Theological College in Brisbane, Australia, and served as a chaplain at residential aged care community Carinity Clifford House for two years. Gwenda has served on the ministry since 2015 and is a member of the Compass Australia board and associate pastor for Connect Groups and Teaching at North-East Baptist Church in Nundah, Australia. Gwenda and her husband, Prasantha (PJ), who serves as board chairman for Compass Australia, have three children, Taruna, Rasika and Prashan.