y 90-year-old friend is in a nursing home. Her hearing has been poor for years, but she enjoys handwork, reading, and watching television. Now he eyes are failing, and these simple pleasures are also denied her. Yet for the most part, she remains cheerful.
One day I asked her about it.
“Well, dear, I just go to the bank more these days.”
Was my friend confused? Through her dimmed eyes, she must have seen my puzzled look.
Pointing to her forehead, she said, “This bank-the storehouse. I dredge up old memories – the good ones, of course – buy they’re only the interest that has been accumulating in my bank. And my, many of them are interesting!”
She paused, as if recalling an old joy.
“Then I turn to the principal – the old Sunday school songs, the hymns, and best of all, the scriptures I’ve memorized. They’re the principal items in my bank. The Bible says, ‘Thy word have I hid in mine heart’ (Psalm 119: 11), but here is where I’ve really hidden it.” She again tapped her head.
Leaning back on her pillow, she looked at me intently through her thick-rimmed glasses. “Interest of principal – I draw out any amount I want. But there’s always an ample supply the next time I make a trip to my mental bank.”
She reached for the well-worn leather Bible on her night stand. Handing it to me, she said, “I sometimes get discouraged. Then remember Isaiah 46:4. Read it to me, will you?”
I turned to the underlined passage: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (New International Version).
On my way home, I wondered about my own spiritual assets. What positive, happy memories did I have for interest? How about God’s Word as the principal resource in my mental bank? In this day of financial upheaval, I knew that these possessions are the greatest investment for my future.