“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”
A “steward” is one who has been entrusted with something and is responsible for how he or she uses it. I was impressed this morning when I read the devotional from David Jeremiah’s devotional book Discovery. He wrote: “All human beings were created to be stewards of the gifts of God: life, breath, talents, resources, relationships, the creation in which we live, and others (Genesis 1:28). Christians have been made stewards of even more: the grace of God, spiritual gifts, the Gospel, and others.” I was impressed with the scope of stewardship that Dr. Jeremiah mentioned. God made all human beings stewards of the earth. That is why, for example, farmers are careful about what they plant and where they plant. One crop will take the nutrients out of the soil, so they do not plant that crop in the same place all of the time. We are often reminded of our stewardship of the air that we breathe. I am not a hyper-environmentalist, but I do understand that we need to be careful what we put into the air that God gave us for the good of all. God gave us the earth “to dress and keep,” so we are responsible for how we use its resources. When we misuse those God-given resources we pay the price of unclean air and ruined soil. So, in a sense, we are all stewards of what God has given us. Dr. Jeremiah pointed out, however, that Christians have additional stewardship responsibilities. The Bible points out the importance of the stewardship of God’s people, beginning with Adam and on through the whole Bible. In Genesis 12, God called Abraham and made him the father of the Jewish people. The descendants of Abraham were given the special stewardship of serving Yahweh. The Old Testament is filled with stories of how they failed in that stewardship and paid the price for it. Just as our soil and air can be ruined, so can our witness to the world through poor stewardship. We usually think of Christian stewardship from the standpoint of giving money, and that is an integral part of our stewardship. But we are given other stewardship responsibilities as well. There is the business of gifts of the Holy Spirit that each Christian has been given. The idea was/is that the work of God would be carried out by people using their gifts to serve God. There are gifts like leadership, encouragement and teaching, to name just a few. God’s work goes on by our stewardship of these gifts. The sad fact is that because we do not discover and use our gifts, quite often the work goes lacking. If God has given someone the gift of teaching, for example, then he or she should study and prepare themselves to teach as God ordered. The problem is that people with the gift of teaching will sometimes not use that gift for one reason or another. This can lead to “soul erosion.” I hope that you get the point that we are all stewards of what God has given us, and Christians are stewards of what God has given us to serve Him. Let’s conclude this article by taking a look at ourselves. Take a good look at your stewardship. Are you doing what God has gifted you to do? This stewardship is primarily for the work of the church, but the work of the church is to impact the world. If you determine that you are not a good steward of God’s gifts to you, then you need to get busy discovering what they are and begin to use them in your church and community. After all, Paul wrote to the church at Corinth:“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” Are you faithful in your stewardship? Really think about it. Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Janet Palmer
2/21/2013 11:58:36 pm
Experiencing God Day by Day for February 22 goes along with your message Bro Joe it ask" are we beig faithful stewards of every life God sends our way?"
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