By Pr Michael Kintu
First of all, God owns everything. My biggest lesson as a Christian and a leader has been around the topic of stewardship. The fi rst principle in stewardship is that God owns it all.
Psalms 95:3-5 (NKJV). “For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.” If you are to achieve your goal in life, work very had to own stuff and know who you are up against. When we consider Jesus’ temptations in Matthew 4, one of the enticements was about stuff.
Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And the devil said to Jesus: “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, in Matthew 4:8-10 (NKJV): “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’.” Jesus’ answer was resolute: we are here to worship and serve God only.
This answer is in line with the call to seek fi rst the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all things will coming serving us (Matthew 6:33). From the very beginning in Genesis 2:15, God was looking for a man to tend and keep the garden. Until today, God is looking for faithful managers of His estate.
Being faithful
The Earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein (Psalms 24:1 (NKJV). The second principle is that stewards must be found to be faithful. We will all have to give an account of our lives on Earth. 1Corinthians 4:1-2 (NKJV): “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”
It is important that we understand God’s requirements of us as it is the basis of His rewards – both now and in the life after. Jesus told a parable in Luke 12 that illustrates this principle. And the Lord said: “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has” (Luke 12:42-44). Matthew 25.1430 help us understand stewardship better. Consider some portions from the above text.
“And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey” (Matthew 25:15).
Embrace responsibility
Clearly, God gives us responsibility according to our ability or capacity to deliver results. This also means that you can measure your ability by the responsibilities assigned to you.
And that responsibility is your doorway to bigger things in life. Your attitude must be to make the most of these opportunities. Matthew 25:20-21 (NKJV): “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’
His Lord said to him, ‘Well-done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord’.” And so was the second man who had received two talents and made four out of them. However, the third man who had received one went and hid it and produced nothing.
Wow, how can one do that? I have always asked myself, yet that is exactly what we are doing with our lives on a daily. The next portion tells us what Jesus will do with us. “But his Lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore, take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away’” (Matthew 25:26-29).
Good stewardship is very central to the Kingdom of God and to the development of nations as we know them today. Everyone has received a talent or talents. What we do with them will determine whether we fully enjoy the benefits of the Kingdom of God or not. We choose!
