Daily Devotion Sun. 9/4/2017
9/4/2017 LESSON 6
STEWARDSHIP OF TREASURE
Quarter’s Theme: UNDERSTANDING BIBLICAL STEWARDSHIP
Unit 2: Your Stewardship (Lessons 3- 6)
Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 69, 236
Devotional Reading: 1 CHRO. 29:10-14
Topic For Adults
THE TREASURES ARE NOT YOURS, YOU’RE A CARETAKER
Topic For Youths
TREASURES YOU WILL GIVE ACCOUNT
Topic For Intermediates
ALL WE HAVE, GIVEN FROM ABOVE
Scripture Lesson
GEN. 1:1; 1 CHRO. 29:12-14; PS. 24:1;
MAL. 3:6-12
MEMORY VERSE
The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the Lord of hosts. Hagg. 2:8 (NKJV)
DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING
Sun. 9/4/2017
Give An Account Of Your Stewardship
Lk. 16:2
The issue of ‘ownership’ is a key in understanding Biblical stewardship. A steward doesn’t own the property he manages, so he needs to handle things with an eye to pleasing his boss, the owner. We think we own everything that we have but the Bible says ‘… what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? Every good thing you have is a gift from God. Like a wise investor, a good steward, he takes risk for the benefit of his master. He does it to please his master, because he knows that he must give account.
POINT OF EMPHASIS: The ownership of all we have is God.
PRAYER POINT: Lord, give me the grace not to be guilty of my stewardship.
BACKGROUND
One of Satan’s most effective ways of deceiving people is the idea that happiness consists in the things that we posses. Through his deceitfulness, he has erected a golden calf, an idol called materialism. Christians with a spiritual calling and heavenly assets are neither automatically exempted from Satan’s schemes or from his disease of materialism nor inoculated against infection from the deadening. Jesus Christ made it clear that a mark of true Spirituality is a right attitude towards wealth. The mark of a godly and righteous man is his preoccupation with God and Heavenly treasure. Therefore treasures are trusts given to us by God which we are to invest for God’s kingdom and glory.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: GOD OWNS ALL (GEN. 1:1; 1 CHRO. 29: 12-14; PS. 24:1)
We must be conscious that “the earth
is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”. No matter how hard we have worked or how talented we are to make wealth, once we start to unwrap where it all came from, we end up at God’s front door. We, along with everything in the world, are His creations. Man, regardless of his status, is under absolute control of God. We’re at His Mercy. What God does is, He handed the dominion over earthly creatures over to man. Man is to make good use of all things created and not to abuse them. He is expected that man will give detail account of all the resources entrusted into his care.
Sad enough, man fails to acknowledge this. In most instances, rich and wealthy people tend to be arrogant, thinking that they have achieved everything by their power, wisdom, connections and smart-ness. Far from it! Nothing is received except it’s given from above.
God is generous, therefore, we must be generous. He is a giver. When we are giving, we are reflecting the likeness of God.” We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give”.
In other words, we only give back to God what comes from His hand.
PART 2: THE LANDLORD’S DUE (MAL. 3:6-12)
Our secular landlords, based on mutual agreements, expect something from us at the end of every month or year as the case may be. Likewise, the agreements initiate and sealed by our Heavenly Landlord, and which is binding on us is “bring ye all the tithes unto my house.”
We need to know that everything we have belongs to God. 100% of our income belongs to God! Everything we have is a gift from Him. If it wasn’t for His grace, we wouldn’t have any of these things. When we realise this, and that we are mere stewards of His resources, it makes it easier to think about how we use the resources He has entrusted into our care.
Tithing is a way of showing apprecia-tion to God from the material,
finance and blessing given us to enjoy. God commands it. It is one tenth (10%) of our income. There is no one who cannot pay tithes. Obedience to this shows our commitment and faithfulness to the giver.
The issue of tithe is a two – edged sword – God wants us to love Him enough to obey His commands to pay the tithe, and in return to bless us beyond measure. In as much as we dare not default on our agreements with our secular landlords without risking dire consequences, we should not expect less from our divine Landlord. So, let’s honour our part of the agreement by giving Him His due and thereby enjoy continued tenancy of His divine favours.
Conclusively, everything we own belongs to God. He entrusts His resources to us and commands us to give back to Him first 10% of everything we earn. This is minimum standard for faithful financial stewardship.
CONCLUSION
Giving a portion of financial resources is part of stewardship living. It is a powerful way of showing that we truly believe that all we have possessed are given to us by our God. That is, we involve God’s claim in what He entrusted in our hands. The Psalmist in appreciation and gratitude says “What shall I render to the Lord, for all His benefits towards me.”
QUESTIONS
- What is Stewardship?
- What is treasure?
- The amount of treasure we have is not the most important. What we do with our treasure is the most important.’ Do you agree? Explain.
- The product of our ability, power, wisdom, connections and smartness are our wealth and riches. Do you agree? If no, explain.
