And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Luke 16:2
Our text is from a parable, in which a rich man is responding to accusations that his steward has wasted his goods. So the rich man is calling the steward to account for this. The steward has the responsibility for all of the rich man’s goods that have been entrusted to him. The rich man, we understand, is the Lord Jesus. The steward could be any one of His servants, any one of us. And the goods that we have been entrusted with – the goods that we need to be careful not to waste – are our Lord’s time, power, and faith.
What is the most precious resource that our Lord has given to us? Time! Its preciousness is a result of its scarcity. We have only one minute entrusted to us at any moment, only one day assigned to us today, and only seven days this week. Every hour that we receive gets used up as we receive it, and it is either used wisely or is wasted. Many of the hours are used up in necessary things such as eating, sleeping, working, and chores. It is the time apart from those necessities that we are to give account for. Do we really need to spend all of those hours on recreation and entertainment? Or would they be more wisely used for Bible study, prayer, visiting a sick or discouraged Christian, or helping where we can in Gospel work? If we don’t use our time wisely, maybe our Lord will not give us any more!
The power that God has given to us is a precious resource that must not be wasted. The Holy Spirit living within each believer provides us with guidance and comfort. He also enables us to understand the Scriptures and to discern the will of God in our lives. Do we follow His leading? If we do not use this great resource wisely, we will be in danger of having it removed by taking us out of the picture altogether.
And what about the vast resource of faith? Do we waste this? Think of what the saints of old were enabled to perform through faith, as outlined in Hebrews 11. These heroes used their faith to conquer kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, quench the power of fire, put enemy armies to flight, perform acts of righteousness, receive back their dead, and to endure torture, mockings, scourgings, chains, and imprisonment. The faith that was available to them is the same as is available to us. It is the same God on whom they relied Who calls us to step out in faith for Him.
Our Lord entrusts us with time, power, and faith. What are we doing with it all? We must give an account! -Jim MacIntosh