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PROGRAM D-7666
Suppose someone told you, “I want to entrust you with my large house, my thriving business, and all that goes with it. I’m putting it into your hands and trusting you to be a good steward of it. You can enjoy the rewards of your hard work, but you are simply the steward of all of this; I am still the owner.” Well, that is what God has done for us.
Everything we have is a gift from God—on loan from God to us. That includes our material possessions, our talents and gifts, our time—everything is a gift from God, and we are expected to be good stewards of his gifts to us.
The question is, when will we give an account of how well we’ve handled God’s resources? Well, the Bible teaches that for those who are born from above through faith in Jesus Christ, there will be a day when we will stand before the Lord for this accounting. That day is called the Judgment Seat of Christ and it is also called The Day. We read about it in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10:
“So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
We are told that fire will test the quality of our work, and if we have been good stewards, what we have done will survive the fire and come through as gold and precious stones, but if not, it will go up in smoke like hay and stubble.
My challenge is that we should live for The Day, not today. Let’s face it—most of us are living for today. Frankly, it’s hard not to, because today pushes in around us all the time, demanding our attention, and telling us that what is happening right now, today, is the most important thing. After all, most everyone we know is living for today.
But my friends, I propose that if we will choose to live for The Day, our lives will be so much more blessed, and we will be such a bigger blessing to everyone around us. The question is, how do we live for The Day, not today?