Stewarding God’s Provisions
Authored by Smitha Basil George under the complete direction and guidance of God, the Holy Spirit, dated November 22, 2023.
Stewarding — a noble responsibility
Scripture references [1]:
- Matthew 25: 14–30
- John 1: 1–5, 4: 13–14, 16: 22
- Galatians 5: 22
- Hebrews 4: 11
Who is a steward?
A steward is a person trusted by another person with their asset(s) — living and / or non-living — to take good care of, and increase those on behalf of the owner of the assets. A steward knows that the assets do not belong to them, even when they are being very responsible and are considerably enriching those. Also, a steward does not have to be swayed to either way in their own self worth by the number / value / perceived lack of value of what was entrusted to them, because the assets or the profit obtained using those are not a steward’s reward. A steward’s reward is decided by the owner of the assets, in response to how well they managed what was entrusted to them, according to the owner’s level of satisfaction and delight with the outcome of their trust upon the steward.
Good and faithful servants
As we are exploring how to enter into a state of complete rest offered by God as expressed in the opening article ‘Rest Complete’, stewarding the provisions God granted in our lives is an important aspect. In the ‘Parable of the Talents’ that the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples in Matthew 25: 14–30, it was not the amount of talents nor how many more talents that the stewards made with what was given to them, that elicited the master’s commendation. It was how faithful the stewards remained over what was entrusted to them made the master to provide the feedback: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” — Matthew 25: 21, 23.
The above statement was made by the master to the person who received 5 talents who made 5 more with those, and also to the person who received 2 talents who made 2 more with those. Those servants could perceive what the master would have done with those talents if he hadn’t gone to the far country. They understood that the talents did not belong to them, but to the master, and how those needed to be handled in the master’s absence — they needed to stand in their master’s shoes, on his behalf, as his representatives, taking charge of those talents as the master would. Because they understood the significance that the master had in heart for those talents, beyond what physical value was attributed to those, they were careful in putting those to use in such a way that those doubled in physical value.
Our own lives are brought, from non-existence to existence by God’s love, choice and design. Each one of us is given a physical body, a soul (will, intellect, emotions) and a spirit (conscience). The fact that we have these with God-gifted life animating our whole being, itself is a miracle, not brought about by ourselves, but by God’s graciousness. Our being may / may not be perfect, but the fact that ‘we are’, as a being owned by God, prompts us to value ourselves as precious, to be looked at with respect and taken care of with intention. This applies in the same manner for every human and other beings. In addition to our own beings, God has gifted us with many life sustaining factors — the nature and its resources, our family, community, our inherent special talents / skills, sources of acquiring more skills through education and experiences, provisions for daily lives (food, water, shelter), opportunities to grow and operate in a profession and the like. There could be a lack in one or more of the above areas for many in the present fallen world, but whatever that is given unto us when we are brought to existence has its own value and great potential for growth and multiplication. Knowing this will help us to overcome negative emotions related to reduced self — esteem, depression, inferiority complex, victim mentality etc, and will drive us to scale heights by putting to good use what we got. This also will allow us to look at other beings with equal respect, irrespective of what obvious possessions they hold, and to work together in communities, uplifting each other.
The unfaithful servant
The opposite of this is portrayed by the servant who received one talent, and decided to hide the talent in the ground. Matthew 25: 24–30 narrates the cause and outcome of this action. He attributed the master as a hard man, who would reap from where he had not sown, and who would gather from where he had not scattered seed. He was conveying that the master appeared to him as someone who would be very strict, who didn’t want to waste a seed, but would look for results where he himself had not planted the seeds. He was presenting his own inaction as something which resulted from his master’s character. He blamed his fear of the master, if at all he loses the talent, that he did not work at all with it, but gave it as it was to the master. He did not take responsibility for the service he should have rendered for the master during the whole time the master was gone. Instead he shifted the blame onto the master himself, and played naive and nice by giving the unused talent back to the master saying — “Look, there you have what is yours.”
In Matthew 25: 15–19, we understand that the master had given each of those servants talents according to their abilities and had been gone for a long time before returning. The master knew that the servant who got one talent had the ability to manage and work with one talent. Also there was sufficient time to work with the talent by him being away for a long time. Master’s action was proven right by the other two servants, who had to work with more talents in the same amount of time that the unproductive servant got, and they produced double of what was given to them. Master saw through the unfaithful servant’s lack of sincerity towards the service he was entrusted with, and understood the manipulative nature of the servant in trying to portray that he was right in not working for the master. The master conveyed it correctly by addressing him as the wicked and lazy servant, and reminded him that he hadn’t even taken the step to just deposit the talent with the bankers that at least it could have generated some interest. He could at least have taken that step in line of his supposed understanding of the master as a man reaping from where he had not sown and gathering from where he had not scattered seed.
After addressing his inaction, the master ordered the talent to be taken from him and given to the servant who made 5 more with the 5 original talents given to him. The one who was faithful enough to take good care of and multiply what was entrusted to him proved himself to be worthy, willing and sincere enough to take care of this additional talent as well. The unfaithful servant was then cut-off from the master’s service and presence, thus becoming unable to access the master, who was the source of his provision, yet the one whom he unfairly blamed. The place where he found himself to be, away from the provision of his master, was full of regret and unsatisfied expectations, characterized by the phrase used by the master — ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’.
Entering into the joy of the Lord
The ultimate reward that the master provided to the good and faithful servants was entering into his joy — Matthew 25: 21,23. The joy of the Lord is a fruit / result of having the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in us (Galatians 5: 22), having the Almighty, the Most Holy God being there for us to help us in time of any need as explained in the article titled ‘Honoring the Worthiness of God’. With our sins being completely erased by handing them over to Jesus, who destroyed the sins through his death on the cross as elaborated in ‘Jesus the Christ, the Atonement for Human Sin’, we have access to the Most Holy God, the King of the universe, from whom everything got its existence (John 1: 1–5). Everything in this whole universe belongs to Him, and in Him, we will get all our needs satisfied as Lord Jesus rightly points out to the Samaritan woman in John 4.
He mentions that
“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” — John 4: 13–14
Our joy is stemming from the fact that we have access to this living water, everlasting life with the life giver Himself. This is the state that the faithful servants enjoyed by stewarding the resources given to them by the master sincerely, relying and trusting upon Him. The good news is that He is right there with us through His Holy Spirit, giving us the wisdom and knowledge to handle the resources correctly. So let us make every effort to enter into this restfulness (Hebrews 4: 11), full of joy provided by the King of the universe, which no one can take away from us (John 16: 22)!
References
- The Holy Bible, https://www.biblegateway.com/, New King James Version.
