Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Be An Obedient...Generous...Compassionate Steward

Deuteronomy 22:6-7 - If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

This chapter is another collection of miscellaneous commands for these people moving into a more permanent living situation.  Moses wanted them to know that it is a sin to do nothing….a sin to be greedy in taking natural resources….to be careful not to imitate any pagan planting practices….to take measures to protect the ones you hired to build for you…and that genders had specific roles that were not to be imitated by the other.

These rules were not there to limit the Israelites…but to teach them the best ways to show love and fairness in the world.  God shines with pride and love for us when we practice  obedience…compassion… generosity… and show him that we accept the roles he placed us in when we were born. He rewards obedience with blessings…..he rewards our small gestures of complete compliance by trusting us with even more of his world for us to share with others.

I thought of the parable…of the talents... in Luke 19.  Then there is the parable of the shrewd manager in Luke 16.  And let’s not leave out the bags of gold in Matthew 25.  Each one of these New Testament teachings of Jesus repeated Moses words here…that those who are obedient with little…those are the ones that God will give even more of his resources to share with others. Matthew 25:28 – 30 says….  “So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

What a great reminder that what God allows us to have in our time here on earth does not belong to us at all.  It all belongs to him….we are called to be the managers of all he put in our hands.  I needed God to remind me of these simple rules.  To not be greedy…to be content with what station in life he has already assigned…to care for others things as if they were my own… to practice fairness…and above all else…to remember to be obedient to God in all things… no matter the earthly cost to me.


Father…thank you for the reminder to practice obedience….compassion…generosity… using what you have allowed us to manage for you to its highest heavenly value. Forgive me for the times that I have mismanaged what you have placed in my hands…and let earthly greed and feelings of entitlement to sway my faithfulness to what you have told me to do.  Help me to seek your wisdom…and guidance in all that I do and say from this day forward…so that I can be a better steward of what you place in my hands.   Amen.

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