Faith Investments

<p>On his twelfth Christmas, the boy eagerly awaited the opening of the gifts under the tree. He was yearning for a new bike, but his hopes were dashed&mdash;the last present he received was a <em>dictionary</em>. On the first page, he read: &ldquo;To Charles from Mother and Daddy, 1958. With love and high hopes for your best work in school.&rdquo;</p> <p>In the next decade, Chuck did do well in school. He graduated from college and later, aviation training, and became a pilot working overseas, fulfilling his passion to help people in need and to share Jesus with them. Now some sixty years later, he shared the well-worn dictionary with his grandchildren. It had become for him a symbol of his parents&rsquo; loving investment in his future, and Chuck still treasures it. But he&rsquo;s even more grateful for the daily investment his parents made in building his faith by teaching him about God and about His Word.</p> <p>Deuteronomy 11 talks about the importance of taking every opportunity to share the words of Scripture with children: &ldquo;Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up&rdquo; (v. 19).</p> <p>For Chuck, the eternal values planted when he was a boy bloomed into a lifetime of service for his Savior. With God&rsquo;s enablement, who knows how much our investment in someone&rsquo;s spiritual growth will yield?</p>