Joel C. Rosenberg - The Invested Life: Making Disciples of All Nations One Person at a Time

Go therefore and make disciples...

JESUS CHRIST (MATTHEW 28:19)

Every follower of Jesus Christ should be able to answer two simple questions:

• First, Who is investing in me?
• And second, Whom am I investing in?

God desires to pour an abundance of spiritual and emotional capital into your lifedirectly and through older and wiser believers. And he wants to use you to pour spiritual and emotional capital into the lives of others. Along the way, youll be changed. Others will change. Youll grow. Others will grow. Youll feel loved. Others will feel loved. You will experience God and his community in a new and personal and supernatural way. And so will others.

God calls this process of spiritual investing making disciples. Its the heart of the Great Commission. Its the vision of a great local church. Its the secret of a healthy, joyful, secure, and significant life.

We call it the invested life. And thats what this book is all about.

God is in the business of turning nothing into something and a little into a lot.

In Genesis 1 and 2, we read the story of God creating the heavens and the earth out of nothing. And man out of dust. And woman out of man. And God said it was good.

In John 2:1-11, we read the story of a wedding where Jesus turned six stone jars of watereach holding between twenty and thirty gallonsinto fabulous wine.

In Luke 9:10-17, we read the story of Jesus turning five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food to feed at least five thousand people.

Thats the greatness of our great God. He can turn nothing into something and a little into a lot.

And thats exactly what he wants to do in your life.

Think about it. Once you were nothing. Then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, you were born into this wonderful and mysterious world we call the human family. Once you were spiritually lost and alone. Then suddenly you found eternal life. You were miraculously born again and transformed into a member of Gods own family.

The apostle Paul puts it this way: Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ... without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.... Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with Gods people and also members of his household (Ephesians 2:12-13, 19, NIV ).

But wait. It gets better. Not only does God want to turn your nothingness into something, he also wants to turn what little human capital you think you have into more than you could ever hope for, dream of, or imagine. He not only wants to give you eternal life; he also wants to give you an abundant life.

Jesus said so himself in John 10:10: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantlythat it might be significant and meaningful.

The question is, what does an abundant life look like?

You did not choose me, but I chose you, Jesus explains in John 15:16 ( NIV ). Why? Why did Jesus choose us? What is it that he wants for us? To make lots of money? To have lots of toys? To have fame or power or worldly success? No. Jesus said, I chose you [to] go and bear fruitfruit that will last.

Aha! The abundant life, according to Jesus, is a fruitful life.