Have you ever participated in a stewardship campaign? That fancy church talk for raising money for the building fund. If your pastor has talked about stewardship, chances are they’re talking about giving money. I even talk to all my nieces and nephews about the importance of giving tithe and offerings. We spend a lot of time discussing stewardship in regards to money, but what about stewarding relationships? What about stewarding our possessions that God has blessed you with? What about stewarding your gifts?
Jesus told many parables regarding stewardship. In some the workers were the stewards of a vineyard (Matthew 21). In it the owner went away and entrusted the vineyard to the workers. At the harvest he went to collect, but they refused to pay no matter who he sent to collect. In another parable, the owner gave the workers talents of silver (Matthew 25). When he came to collect, two had grown their silver and one didn’t. He spoke this in verse 21 to the two, “Because you have been a faithful steward to manage a small sum, now I will put you in charge of much, much more. You will experience the delight of your master, who will say to you, ‘Enter into the joy of your Lord!’” (TPT)
Everything you have has been given to you by God to steward, including your life. How are you doing with that? Are you working on improving the relationships He’s entrusted to you? Are you tilling the ground to produce more out of them? What about your gifts? Are they still just raw talent you haven’t refined? What about your money? Are you using it wisely? What about your life? Are you just meandering through aimlessly? The list of questions goes on, but only you can answer them. In each of the parables, God comes to collect the surplus of what the workers were stewards of. He’ll ask us too what we did with what He gave us. If you want to hear, “Well done,” you’re going to have to be a good steward.
Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 