How Much Do You Own In That Direction?

Once, there was a preacher who paid a visit to a member of the church who was not as regular in his attendance as he should have been. The man was a wealthy businessman, who was running a successful property development business.

As the preacher sat down in the man’s huge corner office at the top floor of the tallest building in town, he asked the man if he was experiencing any challenges that might be hindering him from assembling to worship and preventing him from serving the Lord.

The man replied: “Oh no, nothing of that sort, preacher. I’ve just been so busy working, and sometimes going to the church building to worship God just takes up more time than I can spare.”

The preacher gently asked: “Well, could you share with me what you’ve been busy working on?”

The man got excited and led him to the north facing window of his corner office. “Well, preacher, do you see that office building across the road in that direction? My company owns that building now, and I’ve been busy making sure that the renovations go smoothly so we can lease it out to new tenants.”

The man led the preacher to the west facing window of his corner office. “And preacher, do you see that apartment complex in that direction? My company built that complex, and we just finished handing over the keys to the buyers. We made a fortune on that project!”

The man brought the preacher to the office lobby, where there was another huge set of windows facing south and east. “And preacher, do you see that huge plot of empty land over there? My company owns that land now, and we just got planning permissions to construct a shopping complex that will be the biggest this city has ever seen.”

As the man walked the preacher back to his corner office, he said: “Well, preacher, you asked me what I was busy on, and as you can see, I’ve just been so busy running my company. We now own land and property in all directions.”

The preacher looked at the man for a moment, then pointed upwards and gently said: “But how much do you own in that direction?”

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)