Reason 11: The Best Investment Possible

Investment – noun • in·vest·ment: the outlay of money usually for income or profit
A better part of wisdom is in beginning to see patterns in life and using what we learn in one area and sphere as a helpful analogy to other, even more important, realms of life. One such area is investments.
Most people have some idea about investing, knowing it means taking from what we could use now while expecting to have this amount plus a reasonable “return” at a later date. A credible consensus for a return on financial investments is in the single-digits, anything with a higher likely expectation will carry with it commensurate higher risks. In other words, a 6-8% rate of return is good for financial investments.
The natural consequence is that when we consider investments in general (non-financial investments) it is natural to think in terms of similar returns. Thus, many people who are great financial investors, having a good grasp about the concept (and underlying principles) of financial investments, do not, using the greater principles of wisdom, apply and transition to being good investors of their time. It is easier to understand money because it has a “real” and defined value – time, on the other hand, is “free” and values vary between different people and even for individuals themselves at different times.
It is easy to take time for granted, not seeing it as the most valuable gift we possess and applying the basic and helpful principles of investing to time so we get the biggest bang for the minute. When we fail to do this we greatly reduce the possibility of using time for anything significantly meaningful while, at the same time, not enjoying, and being refreshed, by our “off” time – and time off is vital to make “on” time productive, constructive and beneficial!
All time is important and necessary in striving for and seeking a harmonious life: spiritual, relational, physical, mental, work, doing the necessary (personal hygiene, maintenance of the “things” we have and are responsible for . . .). “I’m bored” is a red flag, no matter the age, a warning sign that something important is suffering from a lack of attention.
While he was wrong on many counts, Arthur Schopenhauer got it right when he observed:
The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.
which greatly enlightens as to why the modern phenomenon of “retirement” has been so disappointing. Nothing minimizes pain like purpose while nothing amplifies pain like boredom.
In many ways, we make many things way too difficult. For example, life itself can be rightly viewed as the gift of time with the quality of life being measured by our use and investment of this time gift.
Correctly viewed, life certainly has different and important seasons, but none of these are to be without a good reason and goals for the use of the precise and “sacred 24” each day offers.
Hence, our declaration that the single most valuable investment of time is in developing a discipline of consistent Bible reading as the sure foundation for all of life. Most people have asked at some point in time: “I wish I knew what God would have me do . . .,” “I am confused, I hear conflicting credible voices, I wish I knew which is right . . .” or even “Life doesn't make a lot of sense, at least in an cohesive and harmonious way, I feel like I am pulled in different ways and don't know which is ultimately the better way . . .”
Yes, by far, the single most valuable possible investment of time is in developing a discipline of consistent Bible reading for the single reason that ONLY the Bible is the sure Word of God. A typical 15 minute a day investment doesn't return 30 minutes of value (which would be a very good investment). It doesn't provide an hour (2, 3 or even 4 hours) of profit. Consistently reading the Bible (and as we do so getting better and better at it – as is normally true in practicing anything) is required so that over time we bring more and more of our sacred 24 in line with God’s Word, His Will for us. There are many “sub” benefits, but this is the ultimate goal of life.
There are many obvious reasons for developing a discipline of consistently reading the Bible, with a few being:

It Works if we read the Bible like we would read anything, with commonsense versus falling into the trap of mistakenly thinking the right way to read the Bible is to turn over every letter, syllable, word and paragraph to find supposed hidden and “deep” meanings (to find what God is hiding from us) – what God wants us to see and hear is on the surface. The Bible is super-practical – far more down-to-earth than any other book. As we are shown, and apply what God shows us, it will make increasing sense – unapplied we will not see more and further.
It is for OUR Good! Every word of the Bible is given for our good because, in the end, everything for God’s Glory is for our good and everything for our good is for God’s Glory. Correctly read and understood, we will not see anything in the Bible that is our sacrifice and work to please God – God is the sole Source and Giver of all things good – He graciously uses us as conduits of His Grace, but the Grace is His, not ours. And we can be sure, as Jesus promises: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” We should hunger for the Bible knowing, in it, we will find that which is for our good.
The Bible is the Surest and Purest Voice of God and as such it is Easiest and Most Dependable Way to Hear His Voice. The Bible is not God’s sole “spiritual” gift to us, but it does point us to the other great and necessary blessings: the Church and its vital role in teaching, leading, protecting, providing leaders and fellow believers to help us in and along the right way. But the responsibility is still ours to read and know the Word/Voice of God because there are false prophets (good speakers, “nice” people, doing “good” work . . .) – God promises that if we are faithful in reading His Word He will protect us against these false prophets (teachers, preachers . . .whoever “speaks” for God – or pretends to).
The Bible is Where We Find the Answer to, from God's Point of View, our Personal Purpose and Meaning of Life because the Bible is the Only Active, Living and Personal Book. The Bible makes more and more sense, as we read it, and find its personal applications.
The Bible Details the Promises of God and the Conditions for Receiving, Protecting and Growing in and by Them. God’s promises are universal while the application of these promises is personal. All His promises, all His Grace, have associated responsibilities to take, value, apply and protect them (by His further offered Grace as taken, valued, applied and protected).
Eternal Life Depends on It! Jesus told us: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Is there any reasonable way of reading this apart from presuming we are interested in knowing what He commands?
Sanctification, Our Growth in Grace and Truth, Depend on the Bible. Maybe the most common message of current false prophets is that “Hey, you can repeat a little prayer once, believe in Jesus and be saved!” (we say current because this foolishness would not have gotten to first base in the past – prior to the last less than 100 years). If we read the Bible we clearly find there must be real, defined and growing signs of spiritual life for any reasonable belief of a spiritual rebirth.
Reading the Bible Provides a (the Only!) Practical Way for Us to Have a Real and Active Faith. Circling back, the Bible is God’s Word, His defined good for us, it is a personal letter to each reader providing His promises and the conditions and responsibilities on our part to benefit from, protect and grow these gifts.

The above are some, but certainly not all, of the benefits resulting from developing a discipline of reading the Bible. As such, it is obvious this is a unique and unparalleled investment.
For the interested, but uninitiated, the questions likely become: “Where do I start? How much do I need to read . . .?” And the simple answers are: “With God! By His Grace!” Starting is our responsibility; leading and showing the way is God’s. A logical place to start would be the New Testament while a reasonable amount would be 15 minutes a day. “Well, can anyone accomplish much in 15 minutes?!” The answer is potentially a great deal.
15 minutes for 365 days is 91 hours, quite a long time for such a small book (over 2 “work” weeks). And most people initially start by reading the New Testament through 3 or 4 times and then “moving” to the Old Testament which, in light of the New Testament reading, will make much more sense. In a year, this simple plan would take a person through the New Testament numerous times and well into the Old Testament – sounds like a good starting place.
Oh, and don't be later misled into thinking that reading “Christian” books (however good they may be) can replace Bible reading – goods books can supplement and help in our Bible reading, but they will ALWAYS do more harm than good if read them in place of the Bible!
Reason 11 (of many reasons) for developing a discipline for reading the Bible is that there is no possible greater (even close) investment of our precious time we could make, it is a catalyst for much good in life.