“What do you have that God hasn’t given you?” 1 Corinthians 4:7 NLT
“You serve at God’s pleasure, with God’s provision, under God’s direction.”
My thoughts today are about “the simple and satisfying life”
It is tempting to presume that who you are, or what you have, or what you can do is of our own making. It rarely, if ever, is. Your individual talents, abilities, possessions, and even your relationships and opportunities are not things you own. When Paul was addressing the pride and boasting of believers in Corinth, he challenged them to consider, “What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?” 1 Corinthians 4:7 NLT. Not easy to miss Paul’s point or debate his reasoning.
Among the first words a toddler learns to express is their declaration of ownership, “Mine!” And it seems that one of the hardest and last things they learn as adults is how very few things really are! If they ever realize it at all. The Bible describes this insatiable need to own and control and the internal and external conflicts that result in this way, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” James 4:1 NIV.
There is very little that originates with any of us, or of which any of us are truly owners; you are really a steward spiritually of whatever has been entrusted to you by God, out of His grace and ample provision. See 1 Corinthians 4:2 NIV. That being true, you are not free to do with that as you please. You serve at God’s pleasure, out of God’s provision, under God’s direction, and with ultimate accountability to Him. “As each has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God . . So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:12 NIV/1 Peter 4:10 NAS. That’s what stewards do.
I think that most of would prefer be owners, but the reality is that all of us are stewards – a more current business position would be called a manager. A manager is a person given a trust by someone else to faithfully and effectively serve the other’s best intents and interests. With that trust comes a required loyalty and accountability. Loyalty and accountability are not optional for anyone, especially stewards. “Now a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. What about me? Have I been faithful? . . It is the Lord Himself who will examine me and decide.” 1 Corinthians 4:2-4 NLT.
Owner or steward? You have to decide. Life is so much simpler for you when you have less to worry about and fewer to whom you answer. Anything you have is out of His gracious supply; everything you are is the product of His presence in your life; all that you can do or give is to be for His service and glory. That’s the simple and satisfying life.
My prayer for you today is: rejoice to be a recipient and steward of God’s benevolence.