Money — Week 2 - Wednesday
TODAY’S VERSE
Matthew 25:14
For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. (ESV)
Before I tell you this story, I need you to understand two things. First, I was a clueless teenager. Second, I have grown and learned a lot over the past 30 years. Also, let’s agree never to speak of this again.
When I was 17 years old, I was “entrusted” with a truck. Specifically, it was a 1988 Toyota 4x4 pickup. It was about six years old when I got it, so it was a pretty nice first vehicle for a teenager. I loved that truck. However, there were three things that “happened” to that truck in the time I was entrusted with it.
First, I was very involved in church as a teenager. I attended a small church, but we had a pretty large student ministry. One night, we were all headed to a Bible study at a leader’s house. I was following our church van because there weren’t enough seats for everyone, and I was one of the responsible ones they trusted to drive separately.
To this day, I’m not exactly sure what happened. But one moment I was following the church van, and the next, the van stopped in the middle of the road. I tried to stop in time but slid into the back of it. No one was hurt, but I can tell you, I never heard the end of that. And that smashed front end of my truck reminded me daily of that mistake.
Second, I didn’t realize you needed to change the oil in vehicles. I thought that when the oil was low, you just needed to put more in. So that’s what I did. And over the course of two years, that’s what I continued to do.
Those of you who are smarter than me can probably guess what happened next. I was driving on I-64 one night, heading back to college, when the next thing I knew, there was smoke billowing into the cab, and my truck was banging, clanging, and struggling to drive. I now know what happened is called “throwing a rod,” or, in layman’s terms, “buying a new engine.”
Third, this happened in conjunction with number two, but it was a separate event. Once my truck would no longer move forward, I left it on the side of the interstate and hitched a ride in a very smelly and smoky Acura to the next exit. I made some calls to get a ride, and in the time it had taken to get picked up and make it back to my truck, someone had stolen the tailgate.
To sum up this season in my early driving life, I was entrusted with a pretty nice Toyota pickup truck, and when I gave it back, it had a smashed front end, a blown engine, and a missing tailgate. If there had been a fourth servant in this parable who was entrusted with half a talent and somehow lost his master’s money, that would have been me.
I didn’t view that truck as something I had been entrusted with. I viewed it as my truck. So when things happened to it, I felt like they only affected me. But I didn’t pay for the truck. I didn’t pay for the insurance on that truck. And I didn’t have to deal with a mostly destroyed truck when I gave it back. I was irresponsible and absolutely did not steward that truck well.
And as extreme as that example is, it’s not far off from how we sometimes treat the things God entrusts us with. We abuse our bodies by feeding them junk and failing to take care of ourselves. We waste our money. We misuse the resources God has graciously entrusted to us.
What would our lives look like if we viewed everything we have as a resource to glorify God and further His kingdom? How would our decisions change? How would the lives of those around us be affected?
APPLICATION
Take some intentional time this week to reorient your view of your possessions. Don’t look at them as things to attain or hoard. Begin to view them as resources God has loaned you to make a difference in the world. View them as money and property that were never really yours to begin with.
What’s something you can do this week to use those resources to glorify God or make a difference in your one more?
PRAYER
God, I’m sorry for the times I’ve taken ownership of the money and possessions you have entrusted me with. I’m sorry for making those a priority over You. Help me to view them through Your eyes. Open my eyes and heart to ways I can use them for Your glory. Amen.