The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

Psalm 24:1 ESV

Realize That God Owns It All

It can be easy to forget that God created the world we live in and us as well. He created the air we breathe, the sun that warms the earth, the oceans and land, and plants and animals for food. He is the one that gave us our brains to think, he placed different gifts and skills in each one of us and gave us each a unique personality. 

As we understand that, “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,” (Psalm 24:1) we can see that we are merely temporary possessors (or stewards) of things that He owns. This makes me take pause to be grateful with what He has entrusted me with, and re-evaluate if I’m being a good steward.

We are born with nothing, and we take nothing with us when we leave. It all gets passed on to someone else. The amazing thing is that we have the opportunity to “store up for ourselves treasures in heaven” by giving some of those items that we temporarily possess here on earth. I want to make the most of what I’ve been trusted with.  How about you?

“The one principle that surrounds everything else is that of stewardship; that we are the managers of everything that God has given us”

Larry Burkett

BIBLICAL STEWARDSHIP

The world is not in danger of running out of resources; but we do believe the world is in danger of running out of faithful stewards.  Jesus came to seek, restore and redeem a broken world. And, the practice of biblical stewardship is an essential part of that redemption. Because when we care for what God has given us in the way He intended, we and those around us are blessed. But those blessings exceed far beyond our personal finances. In fact, every major aspect of life is impacted by good and faithful stewardship. – Our vision is to see God’s people all over the world committed to managing all that they have for His glory so that lives are transformed, economies flourish, and the Gospel is spread to all nations. Larry Burkett Crown Financial

“What does stewardship look like in our lives today?” This question must be asked to evaluate where our mindset is. Yes, stewardship can be applied in to how we use money for the glory of God, but looking further, stewardship is being responsible for the things that God has given us. To help build a framework, we will begin unpacking this idea of stewardship through four important biblical principles throughout the month of September’s weekly daily devotions. Let’s begin to unpack the first important biblical principle:

The principle is this: all that we have belongs to God, and He has temporarily entrusted it to us to oversee according to His wishes. We are managers over God’s household business. 

We get a great picture of this in the Old Testament story of Joseph. Potiphar made Joseph the steward of all his household responsibilities. He put Joseph in charge and gave him power of attorney. Joseph ran the home, kept good accounts, and reported to his boss. 

The point I want to emphasize with this principle is not the fact that God owns everything and we’re His stewards. The deeper issue is trust—a relational issue. It requires that a steward be found trustworthy. God has entrusted to us everything we have for a reason—so we can partner with Him to accomplish His purposes and so we can demonstrate where our true priorities lie. 

1. The principle of ownership.

Psalm 24:1 proclaims that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (NIV). One thing that we must recognize in understanding stewardship is the fact that God owns everything in our lives. We must change our mindset towards ownership to obey God’s will involving our possessions. Deuteronomy 8:18 that demands us to “remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” Since God owns it all, how much authority do you give God over your possessions?

Good stewardship involves your beliefs and behaviors when it comes to money.

Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already.” – C.S. Lewis