March 23, 2015 (Monday)
A watch sold at auction in 1999 for $24.4 million.
Just think of all the things that could be bought for that amount. I don’t recall the exact cost of the building of First Baptist Church of Rockport, but at least 8 such church buildings could have been built at the time of its construction for $24.4 million. The money would buy 122 homes at $200,000 each. I could have bought my last Timex, which kept perfect time, and about 763,000 more just like it, for $24.4 million. I make such comparisons about real things to get my mind to comprehend how much money is $24.4 million. For a watch.
Are the minutes more precious because one has a timepiece that cost more than any other?
No, they are the same minutes that a person finds on his $1.00 watch (yep, there used to be such). As a matter of fact, I had a friend who absolutely refused to pay more for his watches, though he could well have afforded a prestige gold watch like many wear today.
What people do with their own money is their own business, and none of mine. Jesus taught us, however, that we are responsible to God for the way we make and spend money. A word that often surfaces among believers is “stewardship,” which means that those who know the Lord realize that everything they have actually belongs to the Lord. We are handling it for him. Let us invest it wisely, in ways that honor Him. And, oh yes, that goes for our time, too. And our talents.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV), and your..
TIME
TREASURE
and TALENT.