CONSIDER YOUR STEWARDSHIP
- Heritage Church
- 2 days ago
- 10 min read
DAY 6 - January 10
Today, we are going to kick things off by diving right into scripture. So go ahead, open your Bible, and read Ezra 7. As you do, make note of any verses you see that point towards the theme of stewardship.
To summarize what you just read, Ezra 7 introduces Ezra, a skilled scribe and priest, who leads another group of Jewish exiles from Babylon back to Jerusalem under King Artaxerxes’ decree, bringing royal funds, gold, and silver to restore worship, appoint judges, and teach God’s law. Where the first 6 chapters of Ezra focused on the physical rebuilding of the Temple, chapter 7 shifts to a focus on the spiritual restoration of the people.
Now, though all of that is important and exciting, what does any of it have to do with stewardship? Before we can answer that question, we must first answer another question: What is stewardship? If you were to look up the word stewardship in the dictionary, you would find it defined as “the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.” (Oxford Languages) In essence, stewardship is the careful, responsible management and protection of something valuable entrusted to one’s care, like resources, property, an organization, or the environment, with an ethical commitment to preserve and improve it for current and future generations, not just using it for personal gain. It’s about accountability, transparency, and ensuring the long-term health and success of what’s being managed.*
So, what “valuable things” had been entrusted to Ezra? Position and authority (Ezra 7), tangible riches (Ezra 7), talent (Ezra 7), and integrity (Ezra 8). [NOTE: If you would like to pause here and go ahead and read the entirety of chapter 8, you are welcome to do so. But for time's sake, I am going to do a bit of summarizing so we can break these two chapters down into more bite-sized segments, helping us see this theme of stewardship more clearly.]
First, we see in chapter 7 that one “valuable thing” Ezra had been entrusted with was position and authority. Many times we see position and authority as something we earn, and in a sense, they are, when we are talking about position and authority with others, that is. However, when it comes to the Lord, position and authority are gifts we are given and valuable things we must steward well! How do I know? Ezra 7:6 tells us,
“...the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.” (ESV)
We see in the first half of verse 6 this gift of position and authority that the Lord had given Ezra. It clearly states that the king “granted him all that he asked”. Let’s stop and think about that statement for a moment. Can you imagine a king not only giving you a gift but going as far as to grant you EVERYTHING you asked for? That right there is some incredible favor! Especially for someone with non-royal blood. Ezra isn’t the younger brother or even a distant cousin of the king, giving him a natural right to that level of blessing, trust, and honor. In fact, Ezra was a descendant of Aaron, making him a Levite, a priest.
So, if Ezra wasn’t from a royal line…why did the king grant him such incredible favor? We can look to the second half of verse 6 to answer that question. The king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him. Clearly, Ezra was blessed with the precious gifts of position and authority - Which begs the question: What does it even look like to steward something intangible like position and authority?
To answer that question, let's look at Ezra 7:10:
“For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach
His statutes and rules in Israel.” (ESV)
Though this passage doesn’t tell us the exact “checklist” of how Ezra stewarded this gift of position and authority, it does give us some important elements of his stewardship: He studied. He applied. He taught others.
Why is it important to note that Ezra studied? Because it shows that he didn’t just leave things up to chance. He recognized the incredible gift he had been given, and his response was to study and ensure he knew how to use it best in alignment with the Law of the Lord.
This verse also tells us that he put into action all that he studied. Ezra didn’t just read and gain knowledge, he acted and gained character - aligning his life with the statutes of the Lord.
And finally, he took all he had learned and lived it out by teaching others to do the same! He recognized the importance of spreading the truth to others, not wanting anyone left to their own devices when this precious gift from God was ready and waiting for each of them.
Obviously, your life and the life of Ezra look quite different. We live in a very different time in history and on different continents on the globe; however, though the circumstances around our lives differ greatly, the principles gleaned from this passage are timeless - stewardship matters, even when it comes to “intangible” things like position and authority.
So the question you need to ask yourself today is, am I stewarding my God-given position and authority well? You see, no matter if you are, like Ezra, a priest, or you are a teacher, a grocery store clerk, or the CEO of a company, the Lord has gifted you with position and authority IN HIM. Don’t believe me? Take a moment to remind yourself of 2 Peter 2:9, which says,
“...for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.” (NLT)
Which means the question you face today is: “How am I stewarding the position and authority He has already given me?” Are you, like Ezra, growing in knowledge and wisdom through study, growing in character and favor through application of all He is teaching, and “sharing the wealth”, if you will, by sharing it all with others? Or are you neglecting the gift, whether through greed or even insecurity or feelings of unworthiness, hiding it away rather than stewarding it well?
Next, as we dig deeper into the book of Ezra, we find that Ezra was also entrusted with tangible riches.
“For you were sent by the king…to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,with all the silver and gold…With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls,rams, and lambs…And whatever else is required for the house of your God…you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.” Ezra 7:14-20 (ESV)
Now this is one area where we are likely more familiar with when it comes to the word “stewardship” - something we all love to have but hate to discuss: MONEY! If I were to ask, “Where does your money come from?” you would likely answer with the name of your employer. However, that answer would only be partially correct, for everything we have (yes, even our finances) actually comes from the Lord.
You see, just as whatever was required for the house of God by Ezra was provided by “the king’s treasury” (Ezra 7:20), so everything required for us is provided by the treasury of the King of Kings. That means that - despite what we have grown accustomed to believing - 100% of our income belongs to the Lord. Not 10%. Not 50%. Not even 90%. The full 100% belongs to Him and is a gift He has given to us! So when we give our tithes (10% of all income), we aren’t offering to God a portion of OUR money. We aren’t “blessing” Him with a gift. Instead, we are giving back to Him a portion of what was His in the first place. It isn’t us giving 10% to Him but rather Him blessing us with the opportunity to keep and steward well the other 90%! What a generous God we serve!
So the question you must ask yourself today is, “Am I stewarding God’s money well?” This one is almost painful to answer most of the time! It can even be overwhelming to know where to even begin answering it! So let me give you a few “steps” to get you started with evaluating the current state of your finances and your stewardship of them.
Get a clear view of your current reality. Set aside some time to review your bank statement in detail, categorizing each purchase and every dollar spent into broad categories such as groceries, utilities, streaming services, mortgage/rent, eating out, fun money, etc.
Set a budget. Start with the “must-haves” (i.e., tithe, groceries, mortgage/rent, utilities), then divvy up what is left among the “fun” categories like eating out, streaming services, etc.
Compare the two. Are there any items in your “current reality” that don’t align with your realistic budget? In those areas of overspending, it’s time to “cut the fat” and figure out ways to stop living beyond your means. That might mean crockpot meals instead of Chick-fil-A drive-thrus, or coffee dates instead of concert tickets. But no matter the give and take you decide on, the key is to remember that stewarding your finances well means living within your budget and not beyond it.
Ask yourself, am I honoring God first, making the tithe my first priority? Or am I honoring myself first, paying for Netflix before honoring Him?
The third “valuable thing” we see being stewarded well in the book of Ezra is talents (aka skills and gifts). What were Ezra’s skills and gifts? Let’s read them straight from scripture.
“He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses…” Ezra 7:6
“...a man learned in the matters of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes for Israel.” Ezra 7:11
“And you Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand…” Ezra 7:25
Clearly, Ezra was an extremely intelligent man. He had a natural gift for knowledge for sure! But not only was he a devoted scholar who mastered scripture, he was also a wise leader and respected teacher. With his capacity for knowledge, Ezra could have used that gift in many self-serving ways; however, as we read in Ezra 7:10, he “set his heart to study the Law of the Lord.” This is such a clear and beautiful picture of what it looks like to steward your gifts and talents well! He didn’t just steward his gift well by using his brain power to be a good scholar. He stewarded his gift well, using it for God’s glory, not his own.
Though you may not feel it, you, too, have unique gifts and talents. Things that, though you will likely work to hone and improve, you are naturally good at. Some are skilled with their hands, be that in playing sports or building things. Others, like Ezra, are skilled in their minds. But though they are skills we possess, we fall short in stewarding them well when we don’t take these gifts to the Lord and ask, “How can I use this for Your glory, Your honor, and Your fame?”
The final “valuable thing” I want to highlight today is integrity, which we read about in Ezra 8:24-36. In this passage, we read of Ezra dividing the valuables among the leaders, making each of them responsible for their portion - watching and keeping it until they arrived in Jerusalem and delivered them to the leaders of the priests and Levites. Now, it’s important to note that these “valuables” were not just precious family heirlooms. As we read before, the king of Persia had sent great treasure to support the ongoing work of the temple, so these “valuables” were "enormous sums, worth millions of dollars.”**
Being entrusted with such large sums of money didn’t just require bravery - after all, holding onto such wealth would have made them targets of robbers and bandits - it also required men of integrity. In other words, they had to steward their character well. And they did! For we read in Ezra 8:30:
“So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.” (ESV)
Let’s be honest - there had to be a temptation to pocket an ounce or two of gold for themselves. After all, with such a large sum, who would miss such a tiny amount? And, when you think about it, wouldn’t they have simply been taking what was owed to them for putting their lives at risk to protect the treasure? But these men, if they were tempted to do so, kept their integrity intact and faithfully delivered the whole sum to the priests and Levites.
Have you ever been tempted by those thoughts? Thoughts like “But who will even know?” or “I’m just taking what I’m due!” Be that when talking about actual money or even your time card at work - stewarding your integrity well means remembering that all you have is a gift from God. You aren’t “owed” anything. None of us are. We are simply blessed with His best because He is gracious and kind. It is then up to us to decide how we will steward all He has blessed us with.
Today, I want to challenge you to really think about the following questions, even taking time to write out your answers. And then, once you are done, take time to pray over each, asking God to show you how you can become a better steward of the valuable gifts of position and authority, finances, talent, and character and integrity in your own life.
What gifts/talents has the Lord blessed me with?
What am I currently doing to steward them well?
Are there any gifts or talents I am using to serve the World that I am not also using to serve the church?
What positions/authority has the Lord blessed me with?
What am I doing currently to steward them well? How can I do better?
What has the Lord blessed me with financially?
What am I doing currently to steward that well? How can I do better?
Am I living a life of high moral character and integrity? In what ways? How can I do better?
Are there areas in my life in which I need to change my attitude and thinking from “How can I manage MY resources well for His glory?” to “How can I manage HIS resources well for His Glory?”
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (KJV)
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