We are Good StewardsWhen I was about the age most teenagers now take driver’s education, my dad began escorting me out on Sundays to the country roads around the city where we lived. The purpose of our trips was to teach me how to drive our “stick shift” vehicle in preparation for my obtaining a driver’s license…something he was determined I master before becoming soft with an automatic transmission! Coordinating the clutch and the gear
selector was more challenging than it looked, and I stalled the car multiple times. Always Dad would calmly say, “Try it again,” and those lessons, rather than being stressful, were happy times. Later when I had passed my driver’s exam and Dad would hand me his car keys, I knew he wasn’t giving me the car. He was letting me use
his vehicle. While I felt honored that he trusted me with this expensive and complicated machine, I knew exactly who it belonged to. I was grateful I didn’t have to buy my own car yet and was very particular about taking good care of his. I avoided potholes, didn’t eat or drink in the car and always parked as far away from other vehicles as possible. Dad didn’t tell me each time I left with his car just how much he had paid for it and to “be careful”. He didn’t charge me a daily rate like a car rental company. Instead, it seemed to please him that he could provide the privilege to me. In
return, I enjoyed his generosity and tried to be the best steward of his trust I could be. Every day we are given the opportunity to appropriately use the many blessings God has provided us. Not only do we have the privilege of carefully managing our material blessings, but also our time, our abilities and our physical being as well. They are all God’s, but just like my earthly father, it pleases Him to provide them to us for use. Manage His blessings well. by Tari Popp, Pioneer Memorial Church
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