Stewardship Of Life

When we first came to know Jesus Christ, we were willing to do everything for Him. But as time progresses we find ourselves slowly pulling away from Christ. More often than not, we start out so in love with Jesus. But that changes over time. It’s a dilemma most of us have in our walk with Christ as time goes by. The problem lies in our abiding fellowship with him, which greatly depends on our connection to Him. His connection to us is always
there, but when we try to go our own way, our connection breaks down and the quality of our spiritual walk gets affected by it.

In all that we do, if we are not careful, we will fade – our relationships, ministry, giving of our time, talents and treasures. This was the same thing Paul talked about in the first century wherein the people embraced the Gospel, but the fire in them started to fade (1Timothy 1:18-20, 2 Timothy 1:15). We may find ourselves fading away from Christ and asking ourselves, “What happened?” Perhaps the better question is, “What didn’t happen?” It’s a very simple truth – our life is given to us by God as a stewardship. Keeping our connection to God moment by moment as we walk through life is not about what happens, but rather, about what doesn’t happen.

There are three ways by which we create distance between us and the Lord:

Cares of the World “... Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.”(2 Timothy 4:9-10) This includes not just sin, but also the things that tend to catch our attention and steal our focus from Christ. The enemy will try to get us either in the adversity or prosperity that this world brings.

We start with faith in Christ, but we try to finish by our own power. This is the message Paul was trying to convey to the Galatians when he said, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”(Galatians 3:1-3) Most of us are like the Galatians - we start with faith, but we try to finish by our own power. We get so familiar at doing something that we eventually learn how to do it without Him. We tend to rely on our own strength rather than the power of the Holy Spirit.

Passive Faith. We have the tendency to react in faith only when we are made to. We do not look for ways to trust Christ in every area of our lives. This is the most subtle but also the most dangerous way of distancing ourselves from Christ. James 2:17-20 says, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you
foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” James made it clear that when we say we believe in Christ, there should be a step that affirms it. Otherwise, what we have is simply passive faith. And that’s exactly what the enemy wants us to have because passive faith entails stunted growth and unguarded areas that the enemy can break into.

How, then, can we stay close to the Lord as we walk? To the believer, the issue is faith. Our faith must be proactive!

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” In our everyday life, God should always be involved. As we greet the day, we can cast away the cares of the world by lifting our day to God and relying on Him as we go through it. 1 Corinthians 15:31 tells us, “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”

To avoid starting out in faith but finishing by our own power, our faith must be a moment by moment awareness that God is in control and a moment by moment reliance on Him. Galatians 2:18 says, “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Do we have a daily moment by moment dependence on Christ in all that we do?

Remember that in having proactive faith, you don’t ask God to prove Himself. Proactive faith simply allows you to recognize and trust that God is in control. Matthew 8 talked about a centurion whose faith made Jesus marvel! This is the kind of faith each one of us should have.

If we want the stewardship of our lives to be close to Christ all the way to the end without fading, we need to examine ourselves and ask this question, “What kind of faith do I have?”

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Thank you and God bless!