Does Any of It Belong to You?

Do you really own that car? Is that really your house? The Bible says in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” The truth is that we don’t own any of it, but instead we are a part of everything God owns.

Have you ever borrowed an item of importance from someone? How did you treat that item and how did you return it? I remember a story my Aunt Tina told me. She said, “Your Aunt Rosie wanted to borrow my car and I didn’t trust her with it. It was a Monday and I asked her, ‘When are you going to bring my car back’. She said, ‘I’ll bring it back Wednesday’. I was waiting on Wednesday and no car! I called her for days and then the next week she showed up on Wednesday. ‘I told you I’d bring it back on Wednesday’, she said.” Dare I ask, was my Aunt Rosie being a good steward of my Aunt Tina’s car? Why is it important for us to manage other people’s stuff? One word, trust.

God expects us to be responsible and wisely use those things He entrusts to us. Why do we need to earn God’s trust? Luke 16:11 says, “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” How would things have changed if my Aunt Rosie would have brought my Aunt Tina’s car back washed with a full tank of gas and delivered it on the Wednesday Tina was expecting it? Trust would have developed and Tina would have been more likely to loan her car to Rosie. In the same way, God wants to be able to trust us with more, but we have to earn that trust. How do we earn God’s trust? The same way my Aunt Rosie could have earned my Aunt Tina’s trust, we meet and exceed the expectations placed on us.

Your challenge for today is to learn at least one expectation that God has for you as his trusted manager. First, think about what you would want from your money manager and you won’t be too far off. Respond back with your comments below to start the discussion.