Divine Wisdom for Daily Living by Joanne Colvin

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous…An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end.” (Proverbs 13:22; 20:21)

Death is not a popular subject, especially among the elderly. Yet the Bible frequently speaks of death and dying, as a reminder of the brevity of life, as a warning about attachment to this world, or as an encouragement for Christians who are suffering and look forward to eternity without sin and its consequences. When I moved into my retirement community at the relatively young age of 66, I wondered if I would need assisted living or skilled nursing earlier rather than later. I knew I would need this knee surgery, but I didn’t realize then that my arthritis was becoming more inhibitive. I told a few friends that I thought I might be here because my lifespan was shorter than I expected, and I was met with some horrified responses. I am not afraid of death, but like all people, do not like the prospect of declining health that will probably precede it.

Now I am trying to adjust to doing rehab in my apartment, and there are many things I cannot do temporarily, like change out my kitchen water filter. I mention this because our personable maintenance man came to help me early when I would have been writing my devotion. He is a history fanatic and has an impressive knowledge of ancient history in particular. As he shared some of his favorite historical events with me, I wondered why the Lord ordained that he would come while I was starting work on my devotion. Before he left, I suggested that he pass on his passion for history to his young son as an inheritance. Those of us with small bank accounts can rejoice that our most important legacy is not financial, but may be knowledge or wisdom. “Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.” (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12)

That said, we should not neglect planning for the distribution of our financial gifts upon our death. As we read in Proverbs, our grandchildren and others should benefit from our careful planning and execution of that plan. It is important to remember that if we don’t make a plan, the state will determine who receives the benefit of our hard work and investments. Proverbs 20:21 advises us to build our inheritance slowly rather than try to create one quickly (at the end of our lives). Most people do not start saving for retirement or their estate while they are young (30s or 40s), because they are still concentrating on living a life that is comfortable. Others are just unable to save due to a low income or large expenses for medical needs or emergencies. But saving is a habit that we should start early in life because it gets easier the longer we practice putting away at least a little money. Our financial habits should reflect our faith in God. We should save because it’s the right thing to do to honor God and prepare for our futures and those of our families. We should save because we have learned to appreciate delayed gratification and perseverance, having developed self-discipline. We save because by doing so we are witnesses that God has given us more than enough for this life.

Do you have an up-to-date will? Have you planned for your inheritance with careful consideration and prayer? “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23)

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.’” (Luke 16:13-15)

I am home after being in a rehab facility for healing from knee surgery. I am walking unassisted, slowly and carefully, and able to do all my exercises here. I can bend my healing knee, put on my shoes and socks, and pick up things off the floor. The reason I can do all this is three-fold. I let my circle of friends and church know about the operation so they could pray along with me during each stage. Secondly, I did physical therapy for three months before surgery, strengthening my leg.  And during rehab, I took the necessary pain medication to push myself during my physical therapy sessions, exercised and walked after every meal, and chose to do so rather than get off the meds. My deliberate choices enabled me to heal at an extraordinary rate compared to others who are eager to drive and get back to their regular routines, and thus no longer focus primarily on healing. What we choose as our priorities make a tremendous difference in our lives and the lives of others. My prayer partners and I now have this to thank God for and remember that healing, like anything else that is good, requires work and concentration.,

Our passage today, taken from the parable of the dishonest manager in Luke, teaches us that our focus on money will detract from our focus on God. The audience for the parable was a mix of Pharisees, other Jews, and Christ’s disciples. They all needed to hear about the trusted steward for the master who was guilty of mismanagement of his master’s money. He was entirely focused on his own financial status and benefit in his employment, without concern for his master’s well-being. His dedication to his finances made it impossible for him to give the proper attention to his job of serving his master loyally. The end of the parable is ironic, in my opinion. “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:8) Jesus was not teaching us to embezzle, abuse the funds of others, or cheat people. Sin is sin. He was commending the manager for his cleverness when he was in danger of being impoverished, which would dismantle all his work of having a solid financial foundation for himself. He did what would ensure his best future.

Our Lord desires that we be so concerned with our future with him that we will be wise, using every opportunity to focus on the kingdom of God, to be in the best position to live with him eternally. This is what Jesus wanted for the Pharisees and his disciples who were listening to the parable. Our financial wealth or poverty will be a non-issue at our death, although we should plan for it to be left in the best hands when we’re finished our race here. Christian financial stewardship is to be an outcome of our love for Christ and desire to honor him, even with our personal finances.

How can you honor God more in the way you see  and handle your personal financial management? Will you be shrewd, wise, and loyal to Christ, not letting them rob you of your time with him?

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Luke 20:25)

“Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” (Romans 13:7)

“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:17)

Warning: All of the verses cited above have been taken out of context. As we engage in topical Bible studies, and especially word studies, we should be aware that we frequently pull verses out of passages with spiritual meaning to suit our own purposes. I begin with this warning because I fear God and want to honor him with my devotions. As I study and write I always remind myself that I am on dangerous territory, of assigning meaning to Jesus’s and the apostles teaching that was not intended. I pray I am not doing so today.

In the Luke verse, the Pharisees used a Roman coin to trap Jesus into either dishonoring the Roman government or dishonoring God by teaching that believers should give wholly to one or the other. In the Romans passage, Paul is teaching believers that all secular leaders and governments are to be obeyed since they operate under God’s sovereign control and choice. In Peter’s first epistle he instructs us to use our Christi freedom honorably, including subjection to our highest leaders. Do any of these teachings make you cringe? There is a strong possibility that they do, if you, like so many other Christians use your faith to justify withholding your support from leaders or governments based on your personal opinions of their leanings, their use of your money, or their personalities. Every once in a while, a leader is raised up by God who tests our commitment to obey God’s Word. Today one of those leaders happens to be the American president, Donald Trump. Should I support him without regard for the things, he does that annoy me or because he is such a keen businessman with years of experience? No. I should support him because he is the President, elected and put into office by God who is the First Cause of all events.

This is not an easy teaching. Many people would prefer to withhold taxes and other financial support from the government for personal reasons. While this is appropriate for politicians who are running for office, those elected have a different status and are owed our support. Christians often use their faith as an excuse, rather than a reason for their financial support and payment of debts. But as Jesus implied, we owe our governments; some things belong to Caesar. But the ESV Bible notes has this helpful comment: “People should give to God that which bears his image and likeness, namely, themselves.” As 1 Peter says, we owe God our fear, but we owe everyone, including the “emperor” our honor.

Do you honor your government by contributing voluntarily to its local, state, and national work? Do you appreciate government services (such as roads and schools) and value them, or do you think that the government owes you these as a citizen? Will you check your secular financial stewardship because you fear God, whose image you bear?

“A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched. Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” (Proverbs 28:25-26)

“Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me’…‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:15-21)

Have you ever seen the HGTV show “Island Hunters?” I have watched it a couple of times merely to see the beauty of the secluded islands that are for sale in the $10-$30 million-dollar range. Here are real people who are shopping for a refuge, which is often only accessible by seaplane. Not all these people are greedy or selfish; I imagine that some of them give away considerable portions of their holdings. However, we are not to envy or covet their lifestyle, finances, or desires. Greediness is the inordinate or excessive desire for wealth, possessions, position, or any other thing our hearts lust after. Hoarding wealth or possessions is unbiblical, worldly, and selfishly foolish.

Jesus was talking about deep spiritual issues when he was rudely interrupted by a man asking him to adjudicate over his inheritance. I wonder if this man ever realized how he had exposed his materialistic, selfish heart to the Lord of Lords. I also thought of “Island Hunters” because the parable Jesus employed was about a man who was already exceedingly rich, owning not just a mansion but something like a country (v.16 “land”). In the parable’s teaching, we see greedy desires leading to unspiritual and selfish thinking when, on the other hand, God is at work and may bring us to final judgment at any time. The rich man in the parable spent much time thinking about his wealth and therefore idolizing it. His desire to hoard his wealth is a natural extension of his covetousness and dependence upon it for his happiness. Focusing on material possessions leads him to be utterly obsessed with them without any regard for God, others, the truth, or the outcome of his idolatry. Materialism has great power to blind us to everything else if we allow it. The more time we spend focused on our money, possessions, inheritance, or other financial matters, the more danger we run of over-indulgence.

Wise financial planning begins with the understanding that we must maintain a healthy biblical perspective on the amount of time and the quality of time we spend on it in proportion to spiritual concerns, including worship, Bible study, fellowship, service, and prayer. If our vocations require that we spend most of our time on financial matters, it is essential that this time be saturated with a biblical worldview.

“For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 10:3-4)

What will prevent us from falling to the pride of greed?

“’Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’ And the crowds asked him, ‘What then shall we do?’ And he answered them, ‘Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.’ Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, ‘Teacher, what shall we do?’ And he said to them, ‘Collect no more than you are authorized to do.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what shall we do?’ And he said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.’” (Luke 3:8-14)

It’s possible to be too familiar with someone or something and not know the nature of the person or thing at all. You thought you knew your teenager until she came home from school one day and declared that she wants to study geology or become a baker. It’s the same way with Scripture that we’ve heard and might even be able to summarize or recite without ever thinking deeply about it. I felt this way when I began studying for my Divine Wisdom Bible lessons, rereading parables from Luke in the context of financial stewardship. So I decided to take some time to walk through Luke, looking at Jesus’s parables more closely, with a broad view. This week we will consider some of the parables, analogies, and teachings that Luke recorded that utilize finances as a basis for spiritual instruction. I wonder if Jesus used parables about riches and management of resources because he knows that money is such a snare for us, or just because it is an integral aspect of our daily lives.

Today we will start with the words of John the Baptist who was preparing the way for the Messiah. In his first words at the Jordan River, John called the crowds vipers and trees bearing bad fruit that will be cut down by God. The root of their faith needed to be spiritually deep, in God, and strong enough to bear good fruit in a culture bent on materialism—and likewise for us. John was preparing the people to meet and believe in Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. The people in the crowds, including tax collectors and soldiers asked him what to do to escape the ax of God. I am sure he surprised them by speaking of material sacrifices—tunics, taxes, and wages, as a way to express “fruit in keeping with repentance,” not as a way to win approval from God and escape his wrath.

John did not tell the people to give everything away, the tax collectors to quit their jobs, or the soldiers to go AWOL. Instead, he told the people to give away their excess (one of two cloaks), the tax-collectors to stop skimming off over-inflated taxes for themselves, and the soldiers to stop taking bribes for favors. John taught them and us to be content with necessary possessions, do our work with integrity, and be satisfied with our wages. When our contentment and security are in Jesus Christ and his work on our behalf, we handle material goods and income generously, reasonably, and with integrity, reflecting the peace we have with God.

Do you handle money wisely and in keeping with your faith? Will you take another look at your financial priorities, habits, and practices to see where there are inconsistencies?

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your  barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10)

“Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:19)

Wealth is a loaded word; everyone who hears it has a particular reaction to it, and few are neutral. Christians frequently misunderstand God’s intentions and statutes about riches. We often over-simplify biblical commands and teaching because money is a complicated issue. What makes money and sexual relations so laden with emotion is the strength of the temptation to seek pleasure from both. However, like all things in life, financial and sexual desires are part of our nature, as God created us. When God created man and woman he was satisfied that they were very good (Genesis 1:31). Wise Christian living regards the amassing or using wealth for its own sake foolish, missing God’s intention that we use our finances for his glory and enjoyment with him.

Firstfruits in the Bible are mentioned quickly, starting with Cain and Abel in Genesis 4; clearly, the Lord meant this to be a fundamental part of living with him. When Israel finally entered Canaan, they were commanded to thank God for his provision of rest from their arduous journey and fulfillment of God’s promise (Deuteronomy 26:1-11). We give back to God the first or best part of our resources—a small portion of what he has given us. Wise financial stewardship must start with this principle of sacrificial giving as a priority in our lives, regardless of our economic status, like the widow with her two small copper coins. Jesus said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:3-4) She put the Lord first in her heart and mind, and her money followed.

As we approach worship today, let’s be cognizant of this principle of worship, since we are called to give our lives, our resources, and our talents to the Lord. In the hymn, “Take My Life,” Frances R. Havergal was impassioned by the conversion of two girls and penned her powerful commitment to give everything to God. She asked the Lord to take her life, moments, days, hands, feet, voice, lips, will, heart, love, and her very self for his use. But the fourth stanza is the one that always feels extremely personal to me, and especially convicting:  “Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect and use, every power as thou shalt choose.” Two things that our world highly values, and we tend to worship is money and intelligence. When these are hoarded, wasted, or misused, we miss the blessings that God would otherwise provide.

 

Today as your worship, will you only give your voice, lips, feet, and hands, or will you also give God his due from your bank account? Will you confess that you only want to give God what is comfortable and convenient, and instead use the wisdom He has given you to discern the truth in what you hear and your response to it? As we begin the specific work to sanctify our financial attitudes, priorities, and gifts, let’s ask Jesus to work in us through worship and praise.

 

“In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence…I was very much afraid. I said to the king, ‘Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?’ Then the king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it…And I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.’ And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.” (Nehemiah 2:1-8)

A godly steward remembers that all we have comes either directly or indirectly from God and that God gives us these people, time, positions, influence, and resources for his glory. We are to be wise personal stewards for ourselves and our families as needed. For singles or couples without children the resources we need to support our personal lives are  minimal compared to large nuclear or extended families. The larger need is for our church and community, including our nation and the world. Nehemiah’s desire was to serve God and his Jewish brethren, in a distant land with resources he himself would have to collect.

In all of my studies of Nehemiah I have never come across commentary about his family, if he had one; I have always assumed that he was single. Why is Nehemiah’s marital status a consideration? Well, when you and I begin to examine our stewardship, and specifically how we spend our time and money, where do we start? We start with ourselves and our families, don’t we, as if this is the most important aspect of our lives. In one way, it is, because without sustaining our own lives we are unable to help others; parents need to care for children and grown children need to care for aging parents. However, our needs and those of our families is where our stewardship concerns should begin, not end.

Well, you say, Nehemiah was in great shape, with a good salary from his high position with the King, living comfortably in Susa. Yet, I say again, isn’t this the case for most of us? The average annual income of a working adult in the world is somewhere between $10,000 and $18,000. (1) If you or your family earns more than this you may be in Nehemiah’s shoes, fully capable to reaching out to others with your time, money, or resources. Do you live in relative peace and security, without political or police threats from those who oppose Christians? Then you, like Nehemiah are in a position to take a counter-cultural stand for Christ. Nehemiah allowed the need of the returning Jews in Jerusalem to affect him to his core. He wept, prayed, and then allowed the king to see his sad face, something unacceptable for a cup-bearer, especially with a king who had shut down the work on the Jerusalem wall and temple once already. (2)

Not only did Nehemiah confess his distress to the king but he asked the king for supplies, with trepidation and prayer. In the Book of Nehemiah the author emphasizes Nehemiah’s proactive work preceded by prayer. Matthew Henry wrote: “Our prayers must be seconded with serious endeavors, else we mock God.” (3)

Depending on your marital status and family’s needs, your stewardship could be appropriately about your family, your church, your community, or the global body of Christ. Where do the needs of other believers fit into your stewardship paradigm? Where should they? Is your stewardship only prayer, or only action? What needs to change if you are to truly depend upon the Lord, as Nehemiah did, for resources that he will provide in unexpected ways to serve the Body?

(1) https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17512040

(2) “To be sad in King Artaxerxes’ presence was dangerous enough. In addition to that, Nehemiah wanted to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls, and it was this king who earlier had been petitioned and had stopped work on the rebuilding of the walls as a result of that petition. Nehemiah’s plan meant asking him to reverse his own policy.” Boice, James, Boice Expositional Commentary Series, “Nehemiah 2:1-8—The Second Dynamic: The Leader and His Superiors,” Baker Books, 1998

(3) Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the While Bible, Nehemiah 2:1-8.

[Hannah] was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.’…and the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the Lord.’…And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli…I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” (1 Samuel 1:10-11, 19-20, 24-25, 28)

My infertility is unproven but likely since I have a rare genetic condition. In comparison to Hannah, I have never felt strongly about motherhood, but have always been impassioned about the education of children and their teachers. Infertility is not a burden for me, but a confirmation of my calling as a single woman. My stewardship of barrenness looks completely different from Hannah’s. I have considered my singleness as a gift to serve the Lord wholeheartedly in the church and the body, without distraction. Hannah’s infertility was a hindrance to her calling, so it was appropriate that she would seek the Lord’s mercy to open her womb.

We are all stewards of our medical conditions and our physical well-being. Hannah was a steward of her infertility. Hannah’s handling of her infertility was an aspect of her calling as a mother, and her passionate desire to fulfill that role. As a good steward she prayed fervently for a child. The Lord confirmed his calling for her as a mother, and gave her a son, followed by other children. Hannah continued in her motherly stewardship to “loan” her firstborn son, Samuel, to God for all of his life. Hannah had no intention of taking Samuel back to her home, away from the Lord’s service (Although the ESV and other Bible translations use the word “lent,”). Many churches today dedicate babies to indicate the parents’ and congregations covenantal desire for the child to serve the Lord. Hannah’s appeal to God for a son and her song of praise and thanksgiving prove that she knew that Samuel belonged to God from before the foundation of the world and would always be His. (1 Samuel 2:1-10)  We are God’s works, created by him, and belong to him, from eternity to eternity. “Thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’” (Isaiah 43:1-2)

Hannah was a faithful steward of God’s tangible gifts (her child) and intangible ones (her suffering from barrenness and her calling as God’s woman and mother). She points to our responsibility to wisely handle both God’s material and  immaterial gifts and resources in our lives, including our suffering, our children, and our roles in family and in the church.

How’s your stewardship?

“He is faithful in all my house…(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. ” (Numbers 12:7; Hebrews 3:4-6a)

Have you ever built a house or had a builder do it for you? Constructing a home from nothing is a fascinating venture and proof that plans and proper management of resources works. A good builder is a virtuous steward, using good weather, contractors, time, and money effectively to produce the right building for the agreed-upon cost. Our verses in Hebrews today mention the Lord’s “house” concerning Moses, which is understood to be the family of God, believers—Israel in the Old Testament and the body of Christ (or universal church) in the New Testament. There are thousands of references to Moses in the Bible as the most exceptional leader over Israel during the nation’s deliverance, initiation of the Law and sacrificial system and arrival in the Promised Land of Canaan, as a picture of our deliverance, salvation, sanctification, and rest in Christ. Moses was a faithful steward of the body of believers, whom God called to faith in Moses’ time.

The Jews have always exalted Moses as the greatest leader of Israel, the Law-giver. The gospels of the New Testament are full of debates that the Jews undertook with Jesus about Moses’ authority and power. The dialog after Jesus’s healing of the blind man is a good illustration: “So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind and said to him, ‘Give glory to God. We know that this man [Jesus] is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ And they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” (John 9:20-24) The mistake that the Jews made is a warning to us, to not make the same mistake of exalting Moses to the same position as Christ, who is God and the owner of all things (Hebrews 1:1-3).

Moses was a steward of the faith and responsibility God gave him over the nation of Israel and worship of God. The apostles of the New Testament are most like him, having started the church of Jesus Christ, planted new local churches, initiated worship of Christ, and had authority over the church, now through their writings of the New Testament. We, however, can imitate Moses in the stewardship of our callings and responsibilities to serve in the church, which is our most important role in God’s family. But we are to imitate Christ as his stewards in the way that we relate to believers and unbelievers—to treat them as Jesus treated them.

Are you serving in your local church, the Bride of Christ, the family of God? Missionaries, para-church workers, and church planters—how can you improve your stewardship for Christ in the universal church body? For all of us, how can we be the best stewards of our God-given gifts, talents, and faith?

“Joseph found favor in [Potiphar’s] sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food he ate…And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed…Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.’ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.’” (Genesis 39:4-6, 22-23; 42:39-41)

Joseph’s story starts in Genesis 37, when he was seventeen years old, and ends in Genesis 50, with his death, when he was one-hundred-and-ten years old. While Joseph was not to be the chosen seed for the Messiah from the tribes of Jacob, the Lord used Joseph’s leadership and faithfulness to move the patriarchal family to Egypt as the seed for the nation of Israel (Exodus 1). There are two ways to study Joseph’s life and leadership. We can either look for the grace and providence of God who moved him to and in Egypt to become prime minister, saving his family from the famine, along with the Egyptians. Or we can look at Joseph’s character, faithfulness, obedience, and submission to God as his child and servant. I propose that we do both, although here we will concentrate on Joseph, the man, called and used by God in Egypt as a submissive and impassioned son of Jacob and steward of God’s providence.

Joseph was a steward in every sense of the word. He was chosen and empowered by God for the interpretation of dreams, which had an essential role in his day. As God’s child, Joseph was called to a particular role in history that involved great suffering and humiliation as well as exceptional exaltation in a foreign country. Joseph’s wholehearted stewardship was displayed in the home, prison, and government that opposed Israel’s founding and growth. But the most crucial aspect of Joseph’s stewardship is found in everyone’s recognition that the Lord was with him.

Whether we are male or female, young or old, in our home country or foreign land, our relationship with Jesus Christ is the source of our passion, power, and successfulness as stewards. It does not matter whether we are serving our enemies or Christian brothers and sisters if we are truly being used by God in our appointed role in his-story. We are called to be faithful and obedient, leaving the results and outcomes to the Lord.

In what role do you find yourself at home, work, church, or in your community and government? Are you embracing and passionately serving God by excelling in your role? What hinders you from being the wisest, most impassioned steward of God’s providence?