YOU ARE NOT THE CEO. We are servants of the Most-High God. He is the ruler and owner of everything. Thus, at best we are stewards (managers), or the COO (Chief Operating Officer) tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the family business. How effective are you in managing God’s business?
We are living in very challenging and stressful times in which possession, money, and wealth matter to all. However, if not careful, the pursuit of wealth will pull us away from what really matters, which is our relationship with God and one another.
Satan uses the things of this world to tempt and lure us to him. However, the Word of God provides us with the guidance needed to avoid his trap. In the Bible, God provides practical guidance on how to live above the stresses of life, and he provides instructions on how to manage the resources He has given us.
The Bible helps us learn to prioritize what really matters.
In this series, from a biblical perspective, we will look at how to manage effectively the resources God has given us while prioritizing what really matters.
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Asking For God’s Guidance
Holy Father, thank you for putting in us the qualities necessary for managing your possessions. Though we may have, up to this point, misappropriated your resources, forgive us, and teach us how to manage them effectively. In Jesus the Name Amen (Split)
When we give to God or do service for others, we are merely giving back to God what he has given us. This is evident from the following scriptures. They let us know that the Most High is the ruler and owner of everything.
Psalms 50:10-12
10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. (Psalms 50:10-12)
Psalms 24:1
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. (Psalms 24:1)
I Chronicles 29:13-14
13 “Now therefore, our God, We thank You And praise Your glorious name.
14 But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You. (I Chronicles 29:13-14)
Haggai 2:8
8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:8) (Split)
All the resources on this earth belong to God.
1 Chronicle, in the Old Testament, tells us about King David’s desire to build a temple for God. This story about King David and his ambitions to build the temple of God begins in chapter 17 of 1 Chronicle.
When you have the opportunity, take time to read what happened.
King David told Nathan, a prophet of God about his desire to build a house or temple for God. Nathan as God’s special messenger, in 1 Chronicles 17:2, tells David,
2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.” (1 Chronicles 17:2)
However, that night, God instructed Nathan to tell David that he couldn’t build the temple of God, because he was a man of war, and he had caused much bloodshed. Instead, God would have David’s son build the temple.
In reply, David asked Nathan if he could at least draw up the plans for the temple and obtain all the materials necessary for building the temple.
God granted David the privilege of the two things he requested. He would be allowed to draw up the plan and prepare the building materials.
Grateful that God would allow him to participate in preparing for the building of the temple, Kind David spent his life accumulating a huge amount of precious stone, cedar wood, iron, gold, silver, and brass.
When all the building materials had been prepared. David ordered the building materials to be brought to the place where the temple was going to be built. Then he called all the leaders of Israel to come together for a service of praise and thanksgiving.
The book, Patriarchs and Prophets tells us that “From the very opening of David’s reign one of his most cherished plans had been that of erecting a temple to the Lord. Though he had not been permitted to execute this design, he had manifested no less zeal and earnestness in its behalf. He had provided an abundance of the most costly material—gold, silver, onyx stones, and stones of divers colors; marble, and the most precious woods. . . . Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 750–753
In 1 Chronicles 29:13, and 14, David prays before the people.
13 Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
14 “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. (1 Chronicles 29:13, 14)
Who did he say was the real source of all the acquired building materials? God. Though he and the people had spent much time and money obtaining and preparing to build the temple. Yet, he acknowledged that God was the real source of their time, money, resources, and effort.
“David had felt deeply his own unworthiness in gathering the material for the house of God, and the expression of loyalty in the ready response of the nobles of his kingdom, as with willing hearts they dedicated their treasures to Jehovah and devoted themselves to His service, filled him with joy. But it was God alone who had imparted this disposition to His people. He, not man, must be glorified. It was He who had provided the people with the riches of earth, and His Spirit had made them willing to bring their precious things for the temple. It was all of the Lord; if His love had not moved upon the hearts of the people, the king’s efforts would have been vain, and the temple would never have been erected.
All that man receives of God’s bounty still belongs to God. Whatever God has bestowed in the valuable and beautiful things of earth is placed in the hands of men to test them—to sound the depths of their love for Him and their appreciation of His favors. Whether it be the treasures of wealth or of intellect, they are to be laid, a willing offering, at the feet of Jesus; the giver saying, meanwhile, with David, “All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 750–753.
David recognized that he and the people had no bragging rights for the materials brought before the Lord to build the temple. He acknowledge that everything belongs to God. And in essence, they were just giving back to God what belonged to Him.
It is the same for us, when we give to God, we are just giving back that which belongs to Him.
This is an important point to remember whether we have much wealth or little to no wealth. Everything that we have belongs to God.
The following scriptures are a reminder that God made everything in the beginning:
Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) (Split)
John 1:3
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:3)
Psalms 33:6
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. (Psalms 33:6)
Psalms 33:9
9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. (Psalms 33:9)
None of us can make something out of nothing. Hence, anything that we make comes from the resources that God owns.
So, God is really the Owner and Ruler of everything. That includes everything that we possess. So no, you are not the CEO, the Chief Executive Officer, at the most you are the manager or COO, the Chief Operating Officer.
Yes, you may have worked hard to earn what you have. But no matter how hard and diligently and honestly, we have worked for what we have, it still belongs to God.
Without the mercies of God, who gives us life strength, and health we would have nothing. As a matter of fact, without God’s mercy, we would not exist. We need God to live!
As managers of God’s property, we have a responsibility to care for all that he gives us.
We must not forget who is the real owner of our possessions
Some people misuse God’s resources and fail to use them in a manner that brings about an increase. They squander it off in frivolous living and have nothing to show for the resources God has given them.
Though King David would not be allowed to build the temple of God, he made preparation to ensure that his next generation, his son, who would follow him as King would not have to start at square one. He would not have to start off without anything. Unfortunately, for many families, this is not the case. Some squander every resource that God has given them and leave nothing to their succeeding generations.
How much more should we do as David did for the family business that God has given us? What type of manager or COO are you?
We must always live and move with the idea that God deserves our praise and thanksgiving. For He alone is the giver of every good and precious gift. All the available resources we have at our reach belong to him.
When we live with this attitude, we will not have a problem in how we manage what ultimately belongs to him.
Hence our response will be as King David said “ ‘“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this?” (1 Chronicles 29:14, NKJV).
For, regardless of our earthly possessions, (the resources God has given us), one day we will be dead and gone. From this perspective what should be our top priority? What should really matter? Find out on Day 4: Resources Available for God’s Family
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