Stewardship is . . . receiving, not taking.

God gives and we are receive. We hear these words concerning our faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. But there is a better, clearer way to say it. God gives and we are given to. When we say we receive something the implication (although very subtle) is that we are doing something. When we say we are given to, we imply that we do nothing, which is what actually happens.

God gives and we are given to. This also applies to stewardship. God gives, God gives, and God gives some more. We are given to, we are given to, and we are given to some more. For some, we are given to so much that we spill over on to others. For others, we are given to as if we were a bottomless pit.

We take from God when we are given to and refuse to acknowledge that we are given to. We acknowledge we are given to by responding, with the help of the Holy Spirit, in our thoughts our words and our deeds.

Our giving is one way God allows us to acknowledge and respond to His giving. This is where the suggestion is usually made that a person should give back to God a certain portion of what God has given. Maybe the best way to think about it is that God has given us everything. Everything really and truly is His. Maybe we should ask the question, “How much of what He has given to us should we keep for ourselves?” Or do we just take what He gives and ask for more?

Fortunately for us, just as God has provided for all our needs for today, He will do so again tomorrow, even if we do not acknowledge how much we have been given to today. We do not need to trust God to give us what we need. We do not need to pray to God to ask Him to give us what we need, He gives it anyway. God gives and we are given to, praise be the name of the Lord.

17 of 52 © Rev. Ronald A. Bogs