“Sometimes, you have to walk away from what you\nwant to get what you deserve.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nread this statement the other day. There is a half-truth in it. Sometimes we do\nhave to walk away from what we want, but what we get is not what we deserve, it\nis what is best for us. None of us really wants what we deserve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\nare the idols in our lives? What are the things for which we compromise God’s\ngoodness? Those that we genuinely love is typically on the top of the list. We\nbelieve God would never ask us to forsake them. There is truth in that. God\nwould not have us abandon them, but He might want us to give Him a little room\nto work. Like us, they may have some rough edges that need sanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Revelation\n3:17<\/strong>,\n“For you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not\nrealizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\nabout our jobs, our education, our home, our status, our track record of being\na good person? What about our political affiliation? Our pets, or how about\nmoney in general? There is a good one. Do we think about money all the time? Do\nwe worry about the cost of college education, weddings, retirement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ecclesiastes\n5:10<\/strong>,\n“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves\nwealth with his income; this also is vanity.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\nwill never achieve what you are capable of if you’re too attached to things\nfrom which you’re supposed to walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke\n12:15<\/strong>,\n“And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all\ncovetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his\npossessions.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ndon’t think that God wants our worldly sacrifice. I don’t think He wants us to\ngive up earthly things. I believe He wants us to realize they are just mortal,\ntemporary, and in the long term, insignificant. As long as they have their\nrightful place, they are of little concern. The issue is not should you have\nthem, but are you willing to walk away from them. The indication of your actual\nresponse was what you first thought after reading that sentence. Did you put\nqualifications on it? Did you start out saying “Only if”? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Think\nabout that for a minute. If God asks, it is unqualified. He would not ask you\nto give up something just to prove you would. Why? Because there are too many\nother things, He could ask you to give up, which are significant and much more\nchallenging to answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hebrews\n13:5<\/strong>,\n“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you\nhave, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes\nthere are things in our lives that aren’t meant to stay. Sometimes the changes\nwe don’t want are the changes we need to grow. It is not the “thing”\nGod is worried about; it is the emotion behind the “thing.” If we feel\ninsecure about not having it, what does that tell Him about our faith in Him?\nIt is at that point that He might need to make a point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Giving\nup and moving on are two very different things. In God’s economy, giving up\nsomething is just an act of moving on to something better. It is not the loss\nof the former that is of concern; it is the gain of the future on which we\nshould focus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke\n9:62<\/strong>,\n“But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow\nand looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthe Story of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30<\/strong>), Jesus uses the investment\nof money as a metaphor for the investment in others. Too many people I know\nbelieve that their stewardship is about worldly assets, both time and money. I\nthink the issue of stewardship is about people. If we amass great possessions,\nwe invest them wisely, and we help them multiply, but do not apply them to the\naide of others, we are the third man in the parable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible Cliff Notes, according to Tomme, reads like this. The first man took his resources and taught people to fish, thus multiplying their value. The second man took his resources and gave people fish, relieving their need. The last man, afraid he would be a bad steward by giving his wealth to someone who might be undeserving, did nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t\nbe that guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ncan tell you from personal experience; you can give away everything and still\nhave enough. Trust me, it’s true, I’ve lived it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Timothy 6:17-19<\/strong>, “Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous givers, sharing with others. In this way they will save up a treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the future and so lay hold of what is truly life. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes there are things in our lives that aren’t meant to stay. Sometimes the changes we don’t want are the changes we need to grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[12,13,16],"class_list":["post-569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motivation","category-purpose","tag-christian","tag-motivational","tag-wealth"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Question of Stewardship<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Command<\/h4>\n\n\n\n