We are Stewards

Psalms 50:10-12 says:  (God says) "Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.... and the creatures of the field are mine.... the world is mine, and all that is in it."

Colossions 3:17, 23-24 says: Whatsover you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.... Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

So, if I "belong" to God, then He has the right to His expectations of me.  God owns EVERYTHING on this planet and all the other planets so that means that everything that I pay for and every child that I bear or raise is really not mine, but His.  It could be viewed as the bank who holds the Note / Deed to your house or your car.  You own it but there is an expectation from the bank, to pay for it.  Otherwise, you won't own it any longer because ultimately the bank owns it until it is paid off.

Our Creator doesn't exactly have those same requirements though.  He merely desires a relationship with you!  He give us 10 commandments (that can really be summed up into one, which is: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself - Mark 12:30) for direction in order that we will live the most fulfilled lives.  He loves us so much that He admits that He is a "jealous God" and doesn't want to share us with other things that we may choose to replace that relationship that He desires to have with us.

I am given the opportunities and blessings here on the earth and I can do with them whatever I want BUT if I take the time to recognize that it all comes from Him and ultimately, I belong to Him then I should desire to ask Him how He would like for me to manage the blessings and opportunities that He has given.  For example: I am blessed with health.  Should I go and subject myself to every poison, toxin, high-fat food or engage in risky foolishness just because it tastes good, feels fun or makes me feel like I am escaping the problems that I face?  NO!  I should be a good steward of the blessing of health and use it wisely so that I can be a better servant for the Kingdom of Heaven.  I should desire to get most out of this blessing so that I can be a bigger blessing to others.  I am blessed with a job or a business:  Should I do my work half-way or just enough to get by, go in late to work, offend people if I'm in a bad mood and complain to others about how much I hate my job/boss/co-worker?  We are all human and it is human nature to do everything I mentioned BUT this is because we are looking at the situation as if it is OURS.  If we belong to God, then ultimately we should be talking to Him and thanking him for the blessings that He gave us.  He knows our hardships and He loves us so much that He allows those hardships for our personal growth or perhaps give us the opportunity to be a "light" to others.  A glimpse of the joy and satisfaction that a Believer can have when their thinking is based on the fact that "I belong to God".  It is not a difficult way to believe and walk because the Believer also knows this verse, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

As we wake each day, it is important to give our Creator the time to communicate with Him.  He longs to hears from you and desires to open more doors to you than you can even imagine but He doesn't give us more blessings than we can handle nor allows more troubles than we can handle.  We are in the growth process until the day we pass.  We are to learn how to manage every blessing and every trouble with the mindset that we belong to God.

I am SO thankful that He loves me in spite of my poor choices and my lack of attention that I give Him at times,  He waits for me to make the choice to repent and the choice to spend more time with Him and knows that the "well-spring" is there for us to drink from but He will never force us to drink from it.

In closing, I think of the Christmas season that is upon us.  What a blessing we received when God sent us His only Son, knowing that He was sent to be our sacrifice for our sins.  He entrusted Mary to care for Jesus and to teach Jesus so that He would be prepared for the dreadful day of the cross in order to achieve the glorious day of resurrection so that we can live in eternity with Him.  Let's be good stewards of this gift and all the other blessings, opportunities and troubles we receive!