The Responsibility and the Reward of Good Stewardship

Luke 16:10

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

While it is generally understood that this passage is about the poor money management of the underperforming steward, it also places focus on every resource that we have been given.  The message can be taken down to the very basic level of how obedient we are in carrying out even the smallest of tasks that the Lord has put on our hearts to do.

As a parent or employer, the assessment of how our children or employees carry out their tasks is the basis for our decisions concerning assigning them greater responsibilities in the future. As a good parent or good employer, we want the best for those under our care.  We want to see them succeed.  Because we view their position from a higher level, we know that we should only give them greater responsibility when they have shown that they are ready to handle it.

It is in this same way that Almighty God gives us more of anything, whether it be material things or greater responsibility.  Everything that we have belongs to God.  We only have the use of it.  He will only bless us to the extent that we have proven through our obedience that we are ready to handle more than He has already provided.

Let us learn service from the Son of God.  Let us go to the Father before acting on anything.  Let us carry out His will for our lives through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.  Let us gain much by being good stewards of what we have been given and by being obedient in the smallest of things.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving patience with us as we struggle to properly manage all that You have given us.  We ask forgiveness for the times that we have squandered the gifts that we have been provided. We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in being good stewards of our blessings.  We rejoice in knowing that with every act of obedience that You are ready to graciously release more to us.  We pray, Father, that we will come to a place where we are obedient in every small thing that You place before us.  May our eyes be opened that we may see Your ways, and not our own, in all that surrounds us.  We ask all these things in the name of the source of all provision, Jesus Christ.