Stewardship is . . . a heart thing.

Whatever has first place in your life is truly your God. That statement makes sense, because God is the person you want to give top priority. He has given you top priority, giving the life of His only Son for you. So what has first place in your life?

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (6:31). What Jesus means is that where you spend your money shows what or who is truly your God. So where do you spend your money?

Try this exercise. Sit down with your checkbook, your charge account receipts, and all your other receipts. Make a list of where you spend your treasure. Now, compare that list to how much of your treasure you give (back to) the Lord.

So, how did you do? If you are like most people, your gods are the Internal Revenue Service and Walmart. Unfortunately, we can do nothing about the IRS god, except try to be better at tracking our finances, keeping good records, so that we give the IRS their due, but only their due. We can also strive to take better care of what we buy, things we need as distinguished from things we want.

The hardest thing we can do is we can take a leap of faith and put God first in our lives by honoring Him with the better portion of our treasure. Of course, we cannot do this on our own. If we could, we would already be doing it. Pray. Pray to the Lord to forgive you for putting Him in third, forth, or fifth place in your life. Pray to the Lord to forgive you for having other gods before Him, your house god, your boat god, your Walmart god. Pray to the Lord and ask Him to strengthen your faith so that you will have the assurance that as the Lord has provided you will all that you need in this life, you will believe that He will continue to do so. Then, live and act accordingly, making Him your number one priority, your true God. With His help you can do it. To God be the glory!

11 of 52 © Rev. Ronald A. Bogs