Good Steward

Good Steward

            I have been out of school for over a year now. I am officially an adult and have entered "the real world." That means a lot of new things for me. I have a job, I have to pay loans and balance finances, and I'm making strides towards being able to sustain myself. Recently, I made what I like to call my "first adult purchase." I bought a car! It's in my name and everything! I was so excited to do this and my parents were very proud. I told a bunch of my friends because I wanted them to see that I'm a real adult now! It was a  nice feeling driving off the lot with something I own. Also, now my parents don't have to drive me to and from work, so everybody came out a winner from this deal.

            Even though it was a used car, I didn't have enough cash to pay for the entire car at one time. I had to set up a plan to pay it back. It definitely wasn't ideal for buying a car, but it not unusual. Honestly, in my mind I figured, I've been staying on top of loans payments I should be able to say on top of this too. A couple days after I got the car, my mom decided to sit down with me to work out my finances. We sat down and figure out the best way to divide my money up among important payments, while still leaving money for leisure and impulse buys from Amazon (my words not hers). I already had started planning these things out myself but it was nice to get another look at how things would shake out. All of this made me think of something though.

I am blessed. I am blessed to have a job and to have gotten that job shortly after I was done with school. I'm blessed to be able to buy a car and pay for it with my own money. I am blessed with a family that supports me and encourages me in all that I'm doing. I look around and see all the things God has given to me, and I know I need to be faithful to Him and responsible with them. We are to be good stewards with what God provides us in this life. We shouldn't take for granted anything we have, for all our blessing come from our Father. It's not something we necessarily deserve.  I try to take care of the things I'm given and need to work on that in everything, not just material things. I should work hard at my job and be thankful I have one. I should take good care of my car and not just covet it, because I'm thankful I can drive and own a car. I'm thankful for the opportunity to go to college, so I will faithfully pay back what I owe, and when I'm done with there will be much rejoicing in my soul!

            In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story of a master leaving and giving each servant a number of talents to look after. The first received five, the second two and the last one. The first two servants went out and invested the talents they were given. So when the master came back, each presented him with twice as much as he had given them. The master's response can be found in verses 21 and 23, "His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'" I think we can all take a page from this parable. With all that God has given us, we should be thankful, but we should also use it to increase his kingdom. Not just for our gain; we should take care of what was given to us and use it for God. Those servants didn't lose what their master gave to them but added to it. So we should use our gifts from God to glorify Him and add to the kingdom. Tithe from your paycheck. Use that car to drive someone to church. Open your home to serve and care for others. In these things, we can show gratitude for our gifts and use them for God's benefit as well. We don't want to be like the last servant in the parable. He just sat on what he was given and when his master returned, he lost everything and was thrown out (Matthew 25:24-30)! So let's not waste what God has given us. Let use it to glorify Him.