So, I have to be honest, I have been mulling my post since yesterday morning when I read my devotion for the day. And then to confirm my thoughts, when I took a walk yesterday, I walked past a huge maple tree covered in an equally huge vine of poison ivy which reminded me about my devotion on stewardship. Now you may be wondering what poison ivy and stewardship have to do with one another…well let me explain.
Most of us, when we hear the word stewardship, we think about money. We think about how as Christians we are to give ten percent of what we earn to the church. We think about how we may or may not be following that. But mostly when we think in terms of stewardship we think in terms of money. So, when I read my devotion knowing it was going to be about stewardship which also meant it was going to revolve around money…I was pleasantly surprised to see that money wasn’t even mentioned. And you may be thinking “What” stewardship not about money! Well, it is. It is also about so much more.
You see, it is about how we manage our time. How we do our chores. How we handle problems. Even how we deal with our health and relationships. In fact, stewardship is really about how we do just about anything. Because when we deal with stuff when it comes up, we are dealing with a small issue and not something that is huge and quite overwhelming.
It can be a lot like the tree covered in poison ivy. If someone had just gone out with gloves on when the poison ivy sprouted and pulled it out, there would be no massive vine on the tree now. A vine so large that it will cost a lot of money to get down. And then there is the disposal of the poison ivy. You can’t burn it. Burning poison ivy can cause severe respiratory issues. You can’t compost it. That only contaminates the soil you are creating so you won’t be able to use it. What you can do is gather it all up the roots and every other part of the plant and bag it. Actually, you have to double bag poison ivy. So, if you are dealing with a massive vine, like the one on the maple tree I passed on my walk…you can see the issue. Getting rid of poison ivy is a problem…but not if you took the time to pull it up when it was small. Then you are dealing with a simple small bag to put it in and toss into your regular trash. It would take about one minute if that and cost nothing. See where stewardship is also about time?
Or it is taking care of your laundry when you only have one or two loads to do. Or your dishes after one meal. Or paying bills before they are late. In doing our chores in a timely manner we are also saving ourselves a lot of work and extra expense, but we are taking care of the things God has given us. And I think that is the point we should strive to understand…everything we have, from our abilities to the stuff that surrounds us in life is from God. We have been given the ability, whatever it might be, to make the money that helps us buy the stuff. So, why is it so hard to give God ten percent?
Well, mainly because we live on one hundred percent. We have forgotten the rule to live on eighty percent of our income so we can save ten and give ten. And as I read my devotion yesterday and when I walked past that tree, I realized, I also need to use ten percent of my time to tend to chores, so they don’t become bigger messes and use ten percent of my time with God. The rest is mine to fill. So let me do the math for you…and this is a rare occurrence so pay attention (remember: I hate math)
So, there are 168 hours in a week. Which means you have 16.8 hours to get chores done. If you are not letting them get out of hand 16.8 hours is more than enough to get any chores that need doing accomplished. It also means you have 16.8 hours to give to God. Going to church, studying, devotions, or in service of some kind. That leaves you with 134.4 hours throughout the week to use your way. If you subtract sleeping, 8 hours times 7 you still have 78.4. If you are working, you have 38.4. That is a lot of time.
The thing to think about is how many hours each day do you waste on activities that are not conducive to your overall well-being? Or maybe I should ask: How many activities are time wasters? Probably more than we would like to admit. I know I have a couple. Which is probably why my devotion grabbed hold of me, and I have been pondering it for 24 hours.
Here is my take-away: be intentional about how you spend your time because we are stewards of our time just as we are stewards of our money.
Peace,
Beth
Beth's Blog 