Jack Hough’s article, “Why More is Less” in this month’s Smart Money magazine quotes a stat, I found very interesting:
"A study published in The Journal of Finance found that over the 35 years ended in 2003, shares of companies with little or negative asset growth in a given year outperformed those with fast asset growth by nearly 20 percentage points in the following year and continued outperforming for five years."What this means is companies who are increasing their ROI (returns on investment) with less stuff actually are better bets than those who gain in both returns and stuff.
Seems a bit logical, stuff takes time and money to maintain. It drains resources away from the mission of the company when it breaks down or is not functioning correctly.
There also seems to be a general principle here that translates over to the personal balance sheet, and it had me thinking of where I could maximize my ROI – God’s Kingdom. After all, He takes dirty ragamuffins, cleanses them and equips them for service for Him.
Maybe then I should be asking myself this question: are there areas where my earthy ‘assets’ are minimizing His Kingdom ROI?
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Tuesday Twilight for His Highest
We had decided that as sisters, our last hurrah prior to my move would be to attend the midnight showing of the newest teen movie, Eclipse. My sister’s infatuation with the series was apparent. She had read all of the books, purchased the previous two movies and signed up to sit through 6 hours of the movies one and two of series that very night. While I found the story line of the novels entertaining, the actual prose left my literary palate dry. But tonight was not about words on a page, tonight was about the love story of the novels coming to life.
We left the theater at 2:30 AM with salt from popcorn on our fingers and me with a plastic taste in my mouth. Why did I still feel hallow after I had witness the resolution of an intense angsty love triangle? I should feel at ease in my post-Hollywood romantic euphoria.
I began to think through what might have affected my affections for a good dramatic story. What had taken the high out of Hollywood’s heroin? In the movie, the characters sacrificed their desires for the health and safety of others. Edward often chose, for good and for bad, to make decisions that would protect Bella both physically and morally. Yet, in the movie, each still yielded an end in other character.
This got me thinking of the passage that had awakened my heart from earlier in the evening. As I had lain down to store up slumber for the night, I reached the part of Oswald Chamber’s biography where he and his Biddy become engaged. Prior to their engagement, Chambers writes to Biddy:
I have nothing to offer you but my love and steady lavish service for Him. I can hear you say: Foxes have holes…but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.
I have His Word, let us both take it, subsequent days will prove His meaning in it – Let us go forth unto Him, without the camp, bearing His reproach. Mark it in your Bible and I will do the same, with the date.
The honesty of Chamber’s love, comes not only as a sacrifice of his affections for what is best for Biddy, but more so for his sacrifice of his affections in obedience to Christ. Here is where a true hero is found: love sought openly before the eyes of God, second to the love of Christ.
But what more could Chambers do for a God who had loved him so as to give His only Son Jesus Christ as a ransom from sin, lifted high on a Cross. True love, the Lamb, is laid upon the altar given over to the steadfast, unchangable, perfect Father. From His Highest who gave His most precious Son us, does He then not deserve our utmost?
We left the theater at 2:30 AM with salt from popcorn on our fingers and me with a plastic taste in my mouth. Why did I still feel hallow after I had witness the resolution of an intense angsty love triangle? I should feel at ease in my post-Hollywood romantic euphoria.
I began to think through what might have affected my affections for a good dramatic story. What had taken the high out of Hollywood’s heroin? In the movie, the characters sacrificed their desires for the health and safety of others. Edward often chose, for good and for bad, to make decisions that would protect Bella both physically and morally. Yet, in the movie, each still yielded an end in other character.
This got me thinking of the passage that had awakened my heart from earlier in the evening. As I had lain down to store up slumber for the night, I reached the part of Oswald Chamber’s biography where he and his Biddy become engaged. Prior to their engagement, Chambers writes to Biddy:
I have nothing to offer you but my love and steady lavish service for Him. I can hear you say: Foxes have holes…but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.
I have His Word, let us both take it, subsequent days will prove His meaning in it – Let us go forth unto Him, without the camp, bearing His reproach. Mark it in your Bible and I will do the same, with the date.
The honesty of Chamber’s love, comes not only as a sacrifice of his affections for what is best for Biddy, but more so for his sacrifice of his affections in obedience to Christ. Here is where a true hero is found: love sought openly before the eyes of God, second to the love of Christ.
But what more could Chambers do for a God who had loved him so as to give His only Son Jesus Christ as a ransom from sin, lifted high on a Cross. True love, the Lamb, is laid upon the altar given over to the steadfast, unchangable, perfect Father. From His Highest who gave His most precious Son us, does He then not deserve our utmost?
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