To be a Good Steward Over God's Purpose we have to do the necessary things in life. We are the being and the doing we sow into God and others. We are also the seed sown for the harvest we reap. In this season, it is imperative that we remember who we are and what we are called to do. It is so easy to be distracted by the cares of this life (the day-to-day obligations), that we forget our purpose—to be a vessel of light, to walk in love, to care for the needs of the poor, and to share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

With life's necessities always pulling at us, we must decide in advance to do the necessary things first. "Put first things first." Yes, it is a struggle sometimes, but putting Godly requirements ahead of earthy desires is the only way to be victorious in this life. The best thing to do is always the "righteous" thing to do. Haggai 1:1-15 (NIV), illustrates what’s most important to God.

 

“A Call to Build the House of the LORD

 

In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house.’” 

 

Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

 

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

 

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

 

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.”

 

As we can see in the scripture, God did not want to be last, but first. He wanted His people to think more about what was important to Him, more than what was important to themselves. And what was important to Him was fellowship and honor. This is always what pleases God. It’s our time spent with Him in prayer, praise, worship, and good works that serve others, that pleases Him the most.

 

I know, we can be easily distracted by attacks (spiritual, emotional, physical), but if we remember that “the battle is not ours, it's the Lord's,” we can take our stand in the faith fight from the position of victory. We are not just ordinary people, we are extraordinary servants in the Kingdom of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He has given us the victory; we just have to take our stand on the battlefield and fight the good fight of faith. Romans 8:37 (NIV), reminds us, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

 

Remember, we are the being and the doing we sow into loving God and others. And we are also the seed of righteousness being sown for the harvest we will reap. "You reap what you sow" (See Galatians 6:7). That's the way God's kingdom operates. What good you put out is what good you get back. But that also works in the negative. So, in this season, just keep in mind that we are still looking out for the well-being of others as we trust God to take care of our well-being. This is a time like no other in the world we live in, but we can rest assured, that even though the world has changed, God has not, and His promises to keep us, to take care of us, and to strengthen us remains true.

 

"For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith,” 1 John 5:4 (NLT). 

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Be encouraged, and stay on your course. 

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