Hey 👋🏾 there BCU Family!
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A while back, the Lord blessed me with a thought about stewardship and what our responsibility is, so I thought I’d share a condensed version. Let’s start of with some background. So what is a steward?
In the Old Testament a steward is a man who is ‘over a house.” In order to get the whole picture you can read the story of Joseph starting around Genesis chapter 38, for the sake of time, we’ll look at selected passages in Genesis 43.
1 And the famine was sore in the land.
2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.
17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.
18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our donkeys.
19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house.
A steward also had to be trustworthy and follow directions in their entirety.
Once again in Genesis (chapter 44), the steward’s duties were mentioned.
1And he [Joseph] commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? (once again, for clarity, please read the whole story of Joseph starting in chapter 38).
Similarly, in the New Testament, a steward is a person who’s been entrusted to care or honor something. This could apply to Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard:
“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first’ (Matthew 20:8).
Steward also means a manager. This would likely be more around the parables of the Talents and the Unjust Steward. (See Matthew 25:14-30) for the entire story).
After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest (Matthew 25:19-24, 26-27).
Jesus also said to His disciples: “there was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ (Luke 16:1-2).
WOW! Since we know what a good steward is and what NOT to do, what are some areas can we exercise good stewardship in?
Money–besides tithes and offering, alms or giving to the poor.
He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given (Proverbs 19:17). When God pays back, it’s going to be FANTASTIC! Now, we do not give to get, BCU Family, rather just to be a blessing to someone in a tangible way and however the Lord leads you.
Time–we make time for what we want. Let’s ask God for better time management skills and commit with His help to break the cycle of time wasting tasks that leave us unable to start or finish our assignments. We also should allocate proper time for things like chores, family time and of course, prayer and time with Christ. We should be thirsty for Him!
O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water (Psalms 63:1 NKJV).
Body–Physical health–How are you feeling?
Yes, yes, we are not here to stay, gotta die of something, etc. While that may be true in theory, why purposely self-inflict illness? Isn’t it a blessing to witness, praise and worship God in a working temple? Sometimes things just happen and we fall ill (different story), but we want to do what we can to honor the temple or home God gave us by giving it whole foods, vitamins, rest, water and treats in moderation.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 KJV).
Gifts–God does gives gifts and talents, what are we doing with them?
Are we burying the gifts God gives us? Or are we using them well? Think back to the parable of the Talents.The servants that took risks had to get up, go out and do something to earn the other talents! While the Bible doesn’t say, I wonder if they immediately got the new talents or if they messed up a couple of times? Most things take some trial and error to perfect and God will honor your faithfulness. There is a cost of not using what God gave you:
For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:29-30).
If fear, doubt or concern of failure, what others will say comes up in your spirit, take it to God and trust He has properly equipped you. The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25).
Bottom line? ALL things, including time and money that we have are on loan to us by God. He trusts us to take good care of His things, so we should want to always do our best with His help! Yes—this is a TOUGH post to swallow, BCU Fam! We can do it with God’s help! Let’s talk about this some more in the comments section!
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Love,
BCU
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