Every decision is actually two decisions: if I want to do something more, I have to decide what I will do less.
Abram and his family pulled up stakes at Shechem, gathered up their possessions, and headed twenty miles south to a spot between the towns of Bethel and Ai. The record reads: “And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord” (Gen 12:8). These towns stood like sentinels on either side of the main road, controlling traffic through the Central Highlands. That’s why, many years later, Joshua broke the back of Canaanite opposition by defeating these key posts. It seems from the account in Joshua 8 that Israel’s troops attacked the smaller fortress at Ai because the two towns had a non-aggression pact; if someone attacked one town, the other was obligated to come to their aid. So we read in verse 17, “There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel.” Often place names have an importance that adds color to the biblical stories. Beth-el means “the house of God.” On the other side of their camp was Ai, which means “a pile of rubble.” But, you know, everywhere we go in life, we find ourselves pitched between Bethel and Ai. Every penny, every minute, every thought and word, every ounce of energy, must be either spent at Bethel or Ai. As Jesus framed the issue, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mk 8:35). This world is soon to be a pile of rubble, and any investments here will be lost. The house of God, however, is the only building that will survive the collapse of the universe, and investments made for the Lord and the gospel will return eternal blessings. So how’s your investment plan?