Choosing Well: The Keys to Good StewardshipSample

Choose Life

Our Lord God has given us plentiful resources to steward on His behalf. Some of them are tangible while others are eternal and unseen, but still real. We will be accountable to Him for our stewardship if it was good or not.

The Bible says that centuries ago, the children of Israel had been liberated by God from slavery in Egypt. After wandering for decades in the wilderness following Moses’ leadership, they were about to enter to the Promised Land. And just before they went in, he addressed them and charged them with choosing right for their own sake and their children’s.

The Promised Land was not solely about geography or natural resources. The primary benefit of the Promised Land, beyond a plentiful terrain in a strategic location, was opportunity. The opportunity to make decisions. In Egypt, the children of Israel had to do as they were told. They were slaves. Victims without choices.

God promised that if His children made good choices, they would have good consequences. But if they made bad choices, they would have bad consequences. It was an invitation to be good stewards of their freedom to produce life.

The Promised Land was not a place of ease. It certainly had desirable qualities. But when they entered the land, the manna ceased showing up on the ground every morning (Joshua 5:12). They could no longer reap without sowing. They now had to plant and wait if they wanted to eat. The blessings of God would come through their labor.

In the same way, we will harvest the results of our choices. They are like seeds we sow. We can invest in appearances or in cosmetic solutions, but if we invest in the superficial, we will reap the shallow and miss blessings we could have otherwise received.

Our lives are like the children of Israel’s in the Promised Land — we have the wonderful opportunity of making choices. We are not slaves, but free (Galatians 5:1). We get to choose what sort of stewards to be. If we choose well, God promises we will reap life.

Lord, we thank You that You have given us the freedom to choose. You could have easily limited our options to Your expected outcomes. You are so good and merciful! Help us to choose wisely while we steward the great resources You have given us.