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Day 48

OT Reading: Leviticus 24-25

NT Reading: Mark 1:23-45

Stewardship. Yeah...outside of the church, that's not a word we really use anywhere in life. It's an old English word that has stuck around in the church but no where else. Seriously, stop a random person on the street and ask him if he knows where you can find a trustworthy steward for your pet llamas. Chances are it will not be the llama part of the question that he gets hung up on.

And yet, the fact is that stewardship is an important Biblical concept. A principle that actually showed up in our reading today. Now if you've read the passages already, you may be trying to think about where money, tithes (another churchy word), offerings or gifts were mentioned at all today. Because as we understand it, any time the minister starts talking about stewardship we know that we are in store for a sermon about money and giving.

However the principle of stewardship is bigger than just what is in your wallet (or purse). And it showed up in today's reading in Leviticus 24:23. In the midst of all the instructions regarding the year of Jubilee we read this, "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants." (NIV, emphasis mine)

The Israelites still have not entered the land they were promised by God. That won't happen for a little while yet. And even before they begin building their homes and creating towns God reminds them, "Hey...remember that none of this is yours. It's all mine, and you're just taking care of it."

That's really what stewardship is. It is the understanding that everything is God's and I am nothing but a caretaker (a.k.a "steward") of what He has given. So from my computer to my job to my property that I "own", to my car, to what is in my bank account, to my off-brand MP3 player, God has entrusted all these things to me. It's my responsibility to care for them, and not come to some foolish notion about what I possess or have earned.

So while you may most closely associate stewardship with your wallet and bank account (often the most real and difficult ways to put stewardship into practice), the fact is that everything we have belongs to Him anyway.