"Trillion is the new billion."

"Trillion is the new billion."

Joyce wrote a very thought-provoking post about the financial crisis, and how God must be our sure anchor in these times.

And I've been thinking about how easy it is to lose money just like that. Was talking with a brother today about his investments - he said he might have lost a really substantial amount of money (it's a five-figure sum).

And I've read the Straits Times today - they really devoted a lot of pages to the financial crisis. (Did anyone think of investing in Singapore Press Holdings? Apparently newspapers sell pretty well in these bad times... :))

One thing that struck me was how often financial crisis after crisis keep recurring. It only serves to reinforce how transient our wealth can be. But it's a great thing, because God purposely allows the markets to be shaken, to remind us from time to time that financial wealth is like the shifting sands. Billionaires become millionaires overnight, and millionaires become thousand-naires. And thousand-naires become hundred-naires. And so on.

But Jesus knows the vagaries of the markets better than Warren Buffett. Astutely, he points out the better deal: to invest in what yields eternal returns.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Let's invest our money in what produce truly lasting returns. Let's be rich in good deeds and charity to the poor and needy. Let's use our worldly wealth to win friends, so that when it's gone, we'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings. :)

Let's be really smart investors.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."