At the moment the financial world is in turmoil and the media is reporting some of the biggest
monthly falls in house prices since the 1970s. Bad news is around every corner and ‘experts’ are predicting
that in a short time many thousands of homeowners will be in negative equity. Of course that’s really sad but
it’s a lot easier to stomach when you put it into the perspective of a longer time-span. On average property
prices have doubled every 10-12 years in this country for the past 50 years. (Don’t worry this isn’t a web page
on property investment! There is a point to what I’m saying). The short term outlook may be bleak but when we

We live in a culture that lives for today at the cost of tomorrow. We buy now and pay later. In the words of a
pop song it’s so often a case of, ‘I want it all, I want it now’. The Bible recommends a different approach, gathering

Spiritually speaking we can get easily discouraged if we only think in the short term. Imagine how Jesus would
have felt if He assessed how successful He had been at the end of His earthly ministry, abandoned by His
closest  followers and friends, betrayed by Judas and hated by the religious establishment who orchestrated
His crucifixion. Only a few days later and it was a totally different story, as indicated by an empty tomb and a risen
Jesus! The Bible says that Jesus, ‘for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame’. He knew

Thinking in the long term changes our approach and our thinking. As we invest into God’s Kingdom by spending
time and energy seeking Him and spreading the Gospel, we trust God that His Word will accomplish what it was

I remember once witnessing to a girl in South Devon who was out of her mind on drugs. That same night she had
an accident and was taken to hospital. I shared the news with the Church and we prayed for her often over the next
couple of years. Although we were unable to trace her and meet her personally we continued to pray that God would
move in her life. Some years later I visited the Church, which I had left to train in evangelism, with Don Double
in Cornwall. In the congregation was a bright, attractive, smartly dressed young woman. When I asked what her
name was, the Pastor told me, and I realised it was the same woman we, as a Church, had prayed for so many
years previously. She was now born again and studying in Bible College! I can’t remember how exactly she got

As you look to Him He will cause the seeds that you sow to grow and bear fruit in His Kingdom. Look to the long