“There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.”
—Luke 16:1-2
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST calls us personally to give an account to Him of all that we have done and said in our lives. We must give an account to the Lord Jesus Christ NOT for our neighbors, friends, or relatives, but we must give an account for ourselves concerning our stewardship of the things entrusted to us by God. The Bible speaks in many places concerning stewardship, and it refers to the administration of things, whether houses, money, land, or people –everything entrusted to a person is a stewardship, and the one to whom these things are entrusted is called a steward.
A STEWARD WAS ONE who was placed over the household of his master. He was a servant that owned no possessions. This idea is very common in the Bible. We read in Luke 12:42, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?” Here the steward is called the ruler of the lord’s household, and as such he was required to rise early, make the household schedule for the day, supervise the other servants, distribute the food, and make sure the children of the master were instructed. All the goods and possessions of his lord were entrusted to his care to use for the best possible advantage of his master. The money, the possessions, the other servants, even the children of his master were given to him to rule over as if they were his own, yet they were not his own. The account of Joseph in Genesis 39 is an excellent example of stewardship. “So Joseph found favor in his [Potiphar] sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority” (Gen. 39:4).
DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF as a steward? We are those who have been entrusted with the goods of our Lord, and there is nothing insignificant. There is no time, talent, treasure, or goods which you are allowed to waste. As we read in Matthew 25:23, “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’” Every person is a steward before God because everything in our possession has been given to us by God (1 Cor. 4:7), and we have the responsibility to use these things for God’s glory. It doesn’t matter if a person is a president of a company, a king of a country, a man who owns thousands of acres, or a poor man with only the shirt on his back, everyone is responsible to the Lord for what has been entrusted to them. Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the LORDS and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Everything belongs to God. From the “golden coast” of California to the farmland of Nebraska, everything belongs to the Lord and He will require His own at the hands of every man, woman, and child. Once again, listen to the words of our text, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.” How are you doing in your stewardship of God’s goods?
Friday Devotional: February 14, 2025
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
