Stewardship

Every one of us in the sound of my voice has God-given abilities to further His Kingdom.  Throughout our lives, we discover these gifts.  Most of the time they are things you are good at, things you enjoy or things that come easily to you.  When God gives you these things, it is very important to use them for His glory!  What you do with these gifts (as well as your time and resources) is called stewardship.  This is what we are going to talk about tonight.

We find a good example of stewardship in Genesis 2:15.

Genesis 2:15 (AMP):
So the Lord God took the man [He had made] and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

God gave Adam all this land.  God then expected Adam to cultivate the land. One of the definitions of cultivate is: to direct special attention to; to devote time and thought to; to foster; to cherish. Another translation uses the word “keep.”  The verb means “take care of, guard,” involving tending to or keeping things.

This is also mentioned in the chapter before.

Genesis 1:28 (NLT):
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

God expected Adam to take care of or be a good Stewart of what He gave Adam.  This principle still applies to us today!

Let’s look at a New Testament example of being a good Stewart.

Matthew 25:14-30 (TPT):

Verses 14-18: “Again, heaven’s kingdom realm is like the wealthy man who went on a long journey and summoned all his trusted servants and assigned his financial management over to them.  Before he left on his journey, he entrusted a bag of five thousand gold coins to one of his servants, to another a bag of two thousand gold coins, and to the third a bag of one thousand gold coins, each according to his ability to manage. “The one entrusted with five thousand gold coins immediately went out and traded with the money, and he doubled his investment.  In the same way, the one who was entrusted with two thousand gold coins traded with the sum and likewise doubled his investment.  But the one who had been entrusted with one thousand gold coins dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.

Moneylending was common and was often done through temples, which normally doubled as banks because deposits were considered safe there. Since few people had capital, those who did could lend money at significant interest. Investors thus could receive five or even ten times their investment; at the very least, they could double their investment (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible).

Verses 19-23: “After much time had passed, the master returned to settle accounts with his servants.  The one who was entrusted with five thousand gold coins came and brought ten thousand, saying, ‘See, I have doubled your money.’  “Commending his servant, the master replied, ‘You have done well, and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant. 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, “Come celebrate with me!”’  “Then the one who had been entrusted with two thousand gold coins came in and said, ‘See, my master, I have doubled what you have entrusted to me.’  “Commending his servant, the master replied, ‘You have done well, and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant. Because you were faithful 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, “Come celebrate with me!”’

People often buried money in a strongbox to keep it safe, but it would have been safe with the bankers and also increased (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible).

Both the man with 5 talents and the man with two received exactly the same reward, indicating that the reward is based on faithfulness, not results (MacArthur Study Bible [NKJV]).

Verses 24-30: “Then the one who had been entrusted with one thousand gold coins came to his master and said, ‘Look, sir. I know that you are a hard man to please and you’re a shrewd and ruthless businessman who grows rich on the backs of others.  I was afraid of you, so I went and hid your money and buried it in the ground. But here it is—take it, it’s yours.’  “Angered by what he heard, the master said to him, ‘You’re an untrustworthy and lazy servant! If you knew I was a shrewd and ruthless business man who always makes a profit, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank?  Then I would have received it all back with interest when I returned.  But because you were unfaithful, I will take the one thousand gold coins and give them to the one who has ten thousand.  For the one who has will be given more, until he overflows with abundance. And the one with hardly anything, even what little he has will be taken from him.’  “Then the master said to his other servants, ‘Now, throw that good-for-nothing servant far away from me into the outer darkness, where there will be great misery and anguish!’”

The main point of the parable. Being ready for Christ’s coming involves more than playing it safe and doing little or nothing. It demands the kind of service that produces results (NIV Study Bible Notes).

We have to be good stewardess of what God has given us! As we close 2018 and go into 2019, we need to make some decisions that could make everlasting impacts on our lives and our family’s lives:

Are you saved?

What are you going to do to be a good Stewart of what God has given you in 2019?