“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?” (Luke 16:10-12 NLT)
Have you ever stayed in an Airbnb, a rented cabin, motor home, or even someone else’s tent? How did you treat them? As someone else’s? Or as your own? Having never made a lot of money, especially as a Pastor, I was often given the privilege of using other peoples’ things. An elderly couple in our church offered my new bride and I an opportunity to spend a few days in their condo on the beach; our Pastor let us use his car to pull his RV to the beach when our kids were small; and a widow who wasn’t even part of our church loaned us her pop-up camper several times because we couldn’t afford one of our own. There were other ways people blessed us, but I mention those because it validates a point.
Each time we were blessed with the use of someone else’s property or possession we treated it as our own. We tried to leave it better than when we got it. Am I bragging? No, I’m simply sharing a principle my parents taught me when I was young. I didn’t realize it then, but I know now it was the Biblical principle of Stewardship.
You see, in reality, nothing we possess as a child of God, including our body, belongs to us. The Bible uses the term “steward” to help us understand that we are owned by the Lord Jesus and everything He entrusts to us, whether purchased or borrowed, is not our own and must be treated as though it’s a gift given directly from Him – because it IS! A steward is a manager, not an owner!
Think of the implications in the care of our own body and soul. We treat our body as though it belongs to us, eating, drinking, ingesting things that over time turn it into a physical nightmare, then cry out to God as though it’s His fault. Or we say a prayer then continue to live like the devil and wonder why the Lord seems so far away. The stewardship of our possessions is such a small piece of the total stewardship to which the Lord calls us. On many levels our faithfulness as a steward of God is what defines us as a believer, as a follower of the Lord Jesus. The Lord measures our faithfulness, not so much by what is ours, but by what is His – EVERYTHING!
As often he does, my friend Ray Majoran addresses this idea in his beautiful prayer. Let me close with his words as he prays…
Please forgive us for treating what You have entrusted to us as though it were entirely our own. We confess that money, possessions, comfort, and the approval of others can quietly compete for our devotion. Expose the small compromises that reveal divided hearts, and keep us from measuring faithfulness by what other people can see. Thank You for Jesus, who, though He was rich, became poor for our sake so that through His poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Holy Spirit, please help us to be faithful with both little and much. May each of us use our time, abilities, and possessions in ways that demonstrate our allegiance to You rather than money (Luke 16:10-13). Teach us to store up treasures in heaven and to set our hearts on what cannot be taken away (Matthew 6:19-21). When the leaves have fallen and our earthly stewardship is complete, may our lives bear witness that Christ was our treasure and Your eternal Kingdom was our home.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 