Stewards

 

I studied Investment Management in college and subsequently managed investments for a few people during the business part of my career. When you are managing someone else’s money, you have a fiduciary responsibility to your client, to act according to their best interest and according to their goals and priorities. You exercise a degree of care above that which you might have for your own personal investments, because someone has entrusted their savings to you.

 

All that we have, all that we can do, is through the grace and providence of God. We are stewards of the gifts that God has blessed us with. When we view our possessions and abilities as belonging to God and not ourselves, we see them in a different light. It may lead us to invest them according to God’s priorities and not our own.

 

Stewardship is not an optional add-on to the Christian life but a mandatory obligation– God expects a return from us. Isaiah Chapter 5 tells about the landowner who planted a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He did everything he could for the vineyard “but it yielded only bad fruit” (Isaiah 5:2).  The landowner had the vineyard destroyed, turning it into a wasteland.  God has blessed us immensely, even beyond our ability to comprehend. In return, He asks us to use the gifts we’ve been given for the good of His people and for the building up of His kingdom. If we use His gifts sinfully or selfishly, we offend God. We will be called to account for our actions.

 

May we be like the servant who received five talents from his master and used them to gain five more. His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21).

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The individual posts in this blog have been collected into a book, Reflections From the Basic Truths Blog.  It is available for free as an E-book through Barnes and Noble, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reflections-from-the-basic-truths-blog-james-yarmchuk/1147055811?ean=2940181202702, Apple Books, and multiple other book websites. It is available for a minimal charge on Amazon and can also be purchased as a paperback through them.