IT’S NOT YOUR STUFF

Growing up as a 10 year old boy, I was excited to land my first job.  The job was not cutting grass or cleaning someone’s yard.  My very first job was babysitting a neighbor’s small children.  This single mother would often call our home and ask my parent’s permission to solicit my services in watching her children as she ran errands.  I was so excited but quickly discovered the tremendous responsibility I had been given.  The responsibility was to look after something (or in this case someone) that did not belong to me.  The mother was trusting me that what she was giving me would be managed and cared for until she returned. 

Another word for manage is stewardship.  In medieval times a King would have a kingdom and a steward or manager to take care of his kingdom.  The steward was not the owner but simply the manager of the kingdom.  The steward was rewarded or punished based on how well he cared for the King’s kingdom.  I realized that first day on the job I was responsible for how I cared for my neighbor’s children.  Like the steward of a kingdom I was given instructions of what to do and what not to do.  I knew when the mother returned, she was going to check on the status of her children and I would be rewarded and possibly asked back pending the results.

Psalms 24:1 says, “The earth and everything on it belong to the Lord.  The world and its people belong to Him.”  We must realize that none of the things we have belong to us.  Our possessions, money, spouses, children, education, careers, talents, even our lives belong to God.  It’s all God’s stuff!!  The biblical definition of stewardship is:  Handling God’s blessings, God’s ways, for God’s glory.  Like my neighbor, God will inspect the blessings He has given us.  Needless to say I was asked back to babysit many more times because of the good job I did with the children.  You can experience the blessings of handling God’s resources for His glory when you realize….It’s Not Your Stuff!!