TO LIGHT, TO GUARD, TO GUIDE

Guardian Angel


I am the bird that knocks at your window in the morning
and your companion, whom you cannot know,
the blossoms that light up for the blind.

I am the glacier’s crest above the forests, the dazzling one
and the brass voices from cathedral towers.
The thought that suddenly comes over you at midday
and fills you with a singular happiness.

I am one you have loved long ago.
I walk alongside you by day and look intently at you
but you don’t know it.

I am your third arm and your second
shadow…and who cannot ever forget you.

From North in the World: Selected Poems of Rolf Jacobsen

What Is Christian Stewardship?

Christian Stewardship is a way of life in which we regard ourselves and our possessions as a trust from God to be used in His service, for what He has done for us in Jesus Christ.

This means that we are stewards of everything God has given us:

      • our abilities
      • our time 
      • our possessions
      • our money 
      • our whole lives.

To take this a little further, it is: The response we are called to make to God for all He has given us and done for us above all in Jesus Christ.

In other words:
  • We worship God with praise and thanksgiving
  • We look on the universe as God's creation
  • We treat the earth and its resources as God's provision for the needs of all mankind
  • We regard our lives, our powers, and our possessions as gifts from God to be enjoyed and used in His service
  • We seek to be stewards of the Gospel and to share in Christ's mission in the world

How does this work out?  It means giving time to God in public and private prayer, acknowledging His claims on us:
  • Giving Him the opportunity to speak to us
  • Giving Him the service (that is, the service to our neighbor) that has a proper place in our daily lives
  • It means making an honest assessment of our talents and the gifts God has given us and then putting them to work:
  • For each Christian is a member of the Body of Christ and as such has a particular function to perform, just as the ear or hand in a human body.
  • It means regarding our money and our material possessions as a trust from God, to be used for his work in the world

Unless our money gift has cost us something, it is not really a thanksgiving but more like a tip.  And one of the challenges to our discipleship lies in whether we live our life and give to God the odd crumb, or whether we give to God first, and then manage the rest.  If the Christian disciple does the second, he will always have enough.

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