4 Minute Read
Prepare Your Heart
To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.
Read God’s Word
A Verse for Today
Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.
Luke 9:4-5 (CSB): “Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
Reflecting on God’s Word
As Luke 9 begins, Jesus is sending out His disciples to talk about the Kingdom of God with its implications and expectations. All who would listen would be called to follow Jesus and obey Him and God’s Word.
It was a massive task. Heaven and Hell would hang in the balance.
After telling them not to take any luggage with them (they were to trust in the Lord for His provision), He told them to stay in a home if the folks in the village were listening to them. But if people didn’t listen, then leave and go to another town, not evening taking that town’s dust with them.
Luke 9:4-5 (CSB): “Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
The biblical principle we observe in Jesus’ words is stewardship. God still operates this way and so should we. It’s the notion that everything we have ultimately belongs to the Lord and should be carefully handled so that it is productive and not wasted.
So, how does stewardship apply to Jesus’ words to His disciples? They were to be good stewards of the one life God gave them and good stewards of the days that made up each life. If they entered a city that would listen to their message, then that was a good use of their time, so they should stay. But if the city wouldn’t listen to their message about the Kingdom of God, then the disciples were wasting their time (being a bad steward), and they needed to go somewhere else where their time could be used in a much better way.
If you look for it, you can see this principle play out over and over in Scripture. Don’t waste the resources (including your time, health, opportunities, etc.) God has given to you. Instead, make the most of them for His Kingdom.
With stewardship being such an important principle to our God and His followers, it would do us well to look at our lives and the churches of which we are a part and continually ask questions like:
“Is this a good use of the resources the Lord has entrusted to me/us?”
“Is there something I/we can do (change) to make the most of what God has entrusted to me/us?”
“Should I/we stop doing something because it is a bad use of God’s resources?”
Let’s regularly ask ourselves these sorts of questions. It will help us to live our lives much more intentionally without wasting the valuable resources that God has entrusted to us.
Spend Time in Prayer
- Ask God to help you assess how you are using all of the resources He has entrusted to you.
- Ask God to help you make the most of what He has entrusted to you for His Kingdom.
Going Deeper
If you want to dig a little deeper into what biblical stewardship is, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:
“What is biblical stewardship?”
Sharing
If this post has been helpful to you or if you think it could help others, please consider tapping one of the social media buttons below to share it on your favorite platform.
____________________
Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)
Matt’s Musings 