One of the greatest potential failures for under-evaluation in a prosperous culture is the idea of stewardship. Because the rich have a perceived lack of dependance on God for meeting their material needs, they will easily confuse stewardship with ownership. We must be careful to remember that God has only temporarily entrusted us with earthly treasures.
Introduction:
Identity – We were created to be managers of what belongs to God
3 valueless treasures: money, work, time
Observations & Conclusions:
- You don’t know what tomorrow holds
- Life is short
- Failure to recognize God as the giver of today will result in sin
Application: Capitalize your day by:
- Put God first
- Maximize or “redeem” the time you have
1. Urgency – Where are you missing opportunities?
2. Reconstitution – Where are you wasting opportunities? - Seek God’s will not yours
Psalm 8:3-8
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.”
Psalm 24:1
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
Psalm 50:9-12
“I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
Luke 12:16-21
“And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Proverbs 27:1
“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”
Matthew 6:34
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Psalm 39:4-5
“Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.”
Psalm 103:15-16
“As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”
1 Peter 1:24-25
“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls.”
Ephesians 5:15-16
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
Colossians 4:5
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.”