We are stewards of how we live
January 29-February 2, 2024 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Stewardship Week 5
Have you ever met a reckless person?
I’m sure you have. Reckless people are everywhere. They’re the risky drivers, the adrenaline junkies, the irresponsible ones. But what if being reckless is more than just taking unreasonable chances? What if living recklessly is simply just living carelessly?
Careless people may not take dangerous risks, but they are just as reckless as people who do. The careless and reckless both let opportunities slip past them because they aren’t paying attention to what matters. The focus on what’s happening in the moment because to them, the present is what matters most. They don’t think about the future. They don’t consider the consequences. And they certainly don’t count the cost of their choices.
Whether you take too many chances or you’re just lazy with how you live, you aren’t following Jesus the way God intended. Those who know Jesus, who have the Holy Spirit, should live in step with what God has asked us to do. Following Jesus isn’t living life on autopilot; it’s an active choice-making lifestyle, being aware, being observant, being wise.
Your life is something God has given you. It’s a resource He’s entrusted to you for however long you are alive. That means He expects you to steward it wisely, not recklessly and not carelessly.
This week we’re going to focus on how to steward our lives with wisdom according to the Scriptures. Our lives are more than what we own, more than where we live, and what resources we have at our disposal. Our lives are what we do and what we say.
Jan 29 - Steward your tomorrow (James 4:14)
Jan 30 - Steward your giving (Mark 12:41-42)
Jan 31 - Steward your words (Ephesians 4:29)
Feb 1 - Steward your purpose (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Feb 2 - Steward your goals (1 John 2:16-17)
God has given us so much, and He has high expectations for what we are to do with it. Sure, we can choose to ignore it. We can choose to play fast and loose with God’s expectations. But don’t you want the best of what life can bring you? Don’t you want all the blessings God has promised you?
If you choose to live a reckless life, only investing your energy and time and focus on things that don’t really matter, you will only get what you can earn on your own strength. If you make your life about what God wants, you’ll get what God wants to give you.
The world is topsy-turvy, and it’s so difficult to stay focused. So for our memory verse this week, I thought Ephesians 5:15 would be a great one.
What does it mean to live a careful life? Does that mean you live in anxiety, worrying about everything? No. Remember to always interpret Scripture using other Scripture because it will never contradict itself. Over and over again, throughout the Bible, God tells us not to fear and not to be anxious. So living carefully can’t mean living in anxiety.
Living a careful life means living an intentional life. Being aware of your choices and your actions. Paying attention to what you do and why you do it.
Fools stumble through life without listening or learning. They make a mess wherever they go, and they cause damage in every relationship they have. But they don’t even realize it because they aren’t careful with what they have.
Live carefully. Be wise. Steward your life in a way that will bring God joy.
Blessings to you all this week,
Amy
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