How do you choose what you have to do?
Have you ever considered that your time or the path that you’re walking is something you can steward?
He had to go through Samaria on the way. (John 4:4)
Have you ever HAD to go somewhere? Like having to drive through Oklahoma to get to Texas (just kidding, my Oklahoma friends!). Or having to walk through the lingerie section of a department store to get to the video games?
Sometimes logistics don’t work in our favor, and there are obstacles in the way of what we’re trying to accomplish.
But then, you read a verse like this.
You realize that Jesus didn’t HAVE to do anything, right? Nobody forced Him to do anything He did. He chose to do everything He did. He was and is the very picture of free agency. He has the power to do everything He wants to do—anything He wants to do.
But He HAD to go through Samaria.
Why?
And this means even more when you realize that the people of Samaria were the outcasts. They were the ones the Jews hated, and they hated Jews. There was no love between their two cultures.
Yet Jesus insisted on walking through a place that hated Him all for the sake of a conversation with an outcast of outcasts. The woman at the well. You can read the whole story in John 4:1-42, but what I want to focus on is how Jesus came to the decision to go somewhere no one else with Him wanted to go.
If there is a perfect picture of stewardship anywhere in Scripture, it’s Jesus. Jesus is the model for all of us. We’re Christians, aren’t we? That means we should make our decisions and choices based on what Jesus did. So that means we should prioritize our lives the way Jesus did.
But that’s not often how we set our goals, is it? We like to set goals for many other reasons and most of them rarely have to do with how Jesus would have set His priorities.
Jesus always prioritized people. He always made relationships the goal. When you look at His life, He was always serving others, and the times when he stepped back from service were moments where He took care of Himself so that He could take care of others.
It’s not that financial goals are bad, but what’s at the heart of your financial goals? Are they to have more? Are they to increase your status? Are they to bring glory to your own achievements? Or do you want to increase your finances so you can be a blessing to people around you?
Have you ever considered that your time or the path that you’re walking is something you can steward? You can. And you should.
If you HAVE to do something, ask yourself why.
Jesus HAD to go through Samaria to speak to that one lost, lonely woman who society had forgotten and abandoned, and that woman changed her nation in Jesus’ name.
Steward your goals the way Jesus did, and maybe you’ll get to see something miraculous too.
Questions for Reflection
How do you set the priorities in your life?
Why do you think your motivation in your goals matters to God?
How do you think Jesus would have evaluated the goals you’ve set for yourself?
Weekly Memory Verse
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