Still Paying

Growing Daily

Still Paying

The start of the baseball playoffs yesterday brought to mind one of the most unusual contracts in sports.

New York Mets slugger Bobby Bonilla retired from the major leagues more than two decades ago, but his deal with the team still pays him a whopping $1.2 million every year through 2035!

Why?!

It all goes back to a decision made in 2000.  Rather than paying Bonilla the nearly $6 million he was still owed, the Mets deferred it with interest.  The team's owner believed he could make far more by investing that money... with Bernie Madoff!

We all know how that turned out.  Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme collapsed. Meanwhile, that $6 million obligation to Bonilla grew to nearly $30 million.

26 years later, they're still paying for that decision.

We tend to think about choices in terms of what they'll mean for today. But some decisions cast remarkably long shadows.

The friendships you invest in...  The example you set for your children...  The time you spend with God...  Small choices made today can still be paying dividends—or costing us dearly—years from now. Galatians 6:7 reminds us, "You will always harvest what you plant."

Most of today's decisions won't come with a multimillion-dollar price tag.  They may not even seem particularly important.  Yet their effects can linger for years.

Today, plant something you'll be glad to harvest years from now.


- Ron Reid