We are stewards of our Resources
January 22-26, 2024 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Stewardship Week 4
What are the resources in your life?
We all have them. Some of them are financial and relational. Some are mental or spiritual. Our resources as human beings are a hodge-podge of different things ranging from the physical to the intangible. But no matter what resource you’re talking about, we all understand that we need to use them wisely.
We have a choice in how we use our resources. That’s what we’ve been talking about through all of January, but we may not always realize what resources we have at our disposal.
Maybe it’s cold-hearted to think of relationships as resources, but connections with other people are absolutely a resource in each person’s arsenal. It doesn’t have to be something you use for your own personal gain, of course. But how many times have you used a personal connection to help someone else?
How many times have you recommended someone for a job or acted as a reference for someone applying for a job? That’s the benefit of a personal relationship. It can even be as simple as choosing a novel to purchase. The number one reason people buy books is because of personal recommendations. So don’t kid yourself into thinking that your relationships aren’t resources.
They aren’t just resources. They are more than that. But that only means we need to honor and guard them with the value they deserve. And that’s much of what we’re talking about this week—being a steward of the resources in our lives (whether they are relationships or not).
Jan 22 - Friendship with Jesus is priceless (John 15:15)
Jan 23 - Relationships take work (Colossians 3:16)
Jan 24 - No such thing as a free lunch (Luke 28-29)
Jan 25 - The key to time management (Psalm 90:12)
Jan 26 - You always have a choice (Philippians 2:5-7)
All the resources in our lives are gifts from God, and we need to make sure we aren’t taking them for granted. A good verse to remember when we’re talking about staying focused on God is James 4:8.
If you think you can balance being a friend of the world and a friend of God at the same time, you’re fooling yourself. You can’t be both. That’s not to say you can’t love the people in the world; that’s not what this verse is saying.
When Scripture speaks of “the world” in a manner like this, it’s talking about the world system. It’s the broken, sinful culture that draws us away from God and says God doesn’t matter. We can’t actively participate in that sort of lifestyle and still say we follow Jesus. They are diametrically opposed.
If you want to be confident that you are following God, that you are open to His leading, and that you are hearing from the Holy Spirit, this verse is what we need to remember. We need to actively draw near to God. If we do that, if we choose to make God a priority in our lives, He will draw near to us. That’s a promise.
Turn your heart toward God. Acknowledge your sin and turn away from it. Choose to do what God says is right, and you will be astonished how your life will change. And one of the biggest changes you’ll see is how you learn to steward what God has given you.
It won’t happen overnight, but getting closer to Jesus always means you grow in wisdom. If you are desperately in need of a dose of common sense, Jesus is the key.
Praying for you all this week
Amy
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