A man was working as a servant. And he had worked faithfully for many years in this person's home. And so one day when he was a few months from his retirement, his master gave him a plan for a house. He asked him to oversee the building of this house at a particular land. The servant was not happy. He figured, "why would the master tell me to build a house? Am I a mason? Do I look like an architect? I am just a farmhand man for heaven's sake!" The man was mad!
And so when he took up the building of this house, he didn't do it so carefully. He thought the master was not fair giving him a job that he was not qualified for. Month after month he oversaw the development of the building but never corrected anywhere he saw mistakes or miscalculations. All this time, the master never went to see the progress of his assignment.
When the building was completed, the servant came to the master and told him that he was done. Interestingly, the day he finished was the same day he was finishing his servanthood in that home. The master went back to his house, then came out with a bunch of keys. He handed over the keys to the servant. "I have been reserving a gift for your retirement. The house I asked you to build is my gift for you. You have served us faithfully for many years and I wanted to reward you with a retirement home. Get these keys. They are for every lock you inbuilt."
You don't want to imagine the shame of the servant as he picked those keys.
Far be it from us that we be like such a servant!
Over time, I believe its the Lord has put this burden of stewardship in my heart. Reason being that more often than not, I find myself always inclining to that end whenever I am sharing the word. And this sharing is not any different!
Our main texts are Ephesians 5 and Ezekiel 34. Kindly go through them by the guidance of the Spirit of God.
Who is a steward? I will pick three definitions among the many that are there. One: he/she is a a person who administers anything as agent of another or others. Two, this is a person who has charge of the household of another (and in our context, household of faith). And three, this is a person who has responsibility of over Gods creation (read Titus 1:7-8).
Allow me to share with us a few characteristics of a good steward-the one worthy of his calling in reference to the readings above. This steward:-
1. Walks in light (Ephesians 5:8ff).
Why would one walk in light? One, because we are light. It has to be known that we are different. It must be evident that when we talk or walk, there is something uniquely special about us. Remember what was said of Caleb by the Lord? That he was with a different Spirit. That should be said of every good steward in the Lord's vineyard -and wherever God has assigned us.
Two, a good steward walks in light because he is a child of light. (V. 9-14). Truth be told, a steward walks/lives/talks/fulfils the vision of his master. We own the masters vision and assignment. Therefore we should light up where we are.
2. Walks in wisdom (Eph 5:15)
This good steward knows what to do and when. This means that he sees a need and works on it. Therefore, a good steward is careful to get to work even without waiting for instructions and orders. This action calls for wisdom. Otherwise there will be a crash between the master and the steward -irrespective of the mountain of influence one is in. A good steward redeems time not wasting it. Why? The days are evil! (1 Tim 3). With wisdom, heavenly wisdom, we are able to work what ought to be worked out without wasting time and even resources.
3. Lives a life of worship and true fellowship
A true and sincere steward serves his master with sincerity. How? By speaking to one another with songs of praises and hymns. This is a life of Thanksgiving and praise to his master. Thing is, whatever you value has power over you. This said, if you value The Master's assignment, you will wholly serve him.
4. Understand your position/assignment/responsibility (Ephesians 5:21ff)
This is a section or verse read mostly in weddings and marriage garages and counseling. Here, wife vs husband vs God. This is a triangular relationship that sums up one thing-ASSIGNMENT.
a). Husband=Christ.
As a steward, what Christ (husband) can't do for the church (wife), don't do it! Do not intentionally hurt a fellow co-worker. God hates Sowers of discord. Another thing is, as a steward, is your wife better than you found her or worse? See, the assignment that God gave you when you first began, how is it fairing? How is that position getting along in that business since you took it up? How is that family doing since you got into it? Is it better or worse or dead?
b). Wives=Church
As an individual called by God, are you faithful to your calling/assignment/purpose? Actually, do you even know what you have been called to do? And if you already know, do you do it cheerfully? For God loves a cheerful giver-even the giving of your service to Him should be done with a grateful cheerful heart. Do it!
C). Be a good custodian of God's gift/assignment and fellow stewards (Ezekiel 34:17).
Stewardship comes with a lot of responsibilities. Including the responsibility of one another. How do we treat each other? In Ezekiel 34, God (the True Shepherd) condemns strongly the strong sheep who after they eat Tumble on the remains so that the weak one have nothing to eat. This is a sad reality unfortunately. When we serve with hypocrisy, when we are jealous of another, and feel threatened that others are rising and growing, we are doing what those condemned sheep were doing. And we are not doing what our master requires of us. It should be our joy when we see others rising and growing because it means so are we.
As a good steward (sheep), our goal on this household is to see that every room is tidy and well kept for the masters inspection. However, some of us behave like the sheep in Eze 34:21 for we have scattered the weak ones with our words and actions. Instead of our words being seasoned with grace, its the complete opposite. We forget that if one room is untidy the master will not be pleased with all of us. And above all, we are each other's complement. This therefore calls is to work as one body with many parts. If one part fails in its assignment, all other parts are affected in one way or the other.
In conclusion, let's not be like the shrewd ungrateful tired servant who was asked to build a house and built it all wrong for he thought he was doing his master a favor. Let's walk worthy of our calling. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit with lowliness, gentleness and patience -bearing one another in love and keeping the unity of the Spirit. A steward worthy of his calling pleases his master-let that be our goal.
Comments