His Mina
Jesus said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
Luke 19:12-13 | NIV
How we view our possessions, our resources, our gifts, skills, abilities, and opportunities matters deeply to God.
1. THEY'RE NOT YOURS
The first and most important shift in perspective needs to change from "owner" to "manager". A Kingdom lens forces us to view everything as belonging to God (Psalm 24:1) that He's temporarily entrusted us to manage.
2. THEY'RE FOR THE KINGDOM
When we finally cede ownership of His gifts and resources, we most clearly see that the purpose of the possessions is for building the Kingdom. The most important question we need to ask with what we have in our hands is, "How am
I using this to help others know and love God?"
3. THEY COME WITH STRINGS ATTACHED
Because these gifts are not for us, but rather to be used through us, God expects us to use and share them. Keeping our talents or our wealth to ourselves solely for the purpose of our gain and comfort will have consequences—mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
4. THEY COME WITH BLESSING
On the positive side, leveraging these loaned skills for His glory comes with profound blessing. Perhaps in the physical realm—but most certainly in the spiritual realm—we're rewarded for good stewardship. But again, a faithful manager will never hoard the excess for himself, but rather see it as an opportunity to reinvest to build the Kingdom in greater ways.
Most of you here are musicians, guitar players to be exact. So I want you to think specifically about what you're leveraging for the Kingdom of God.
Take a careful look at your skills and how they're being leveraged to help people love and be loved by God more fully.
Take a careful look at your gear and how it's being leveraged to help people love and be loved by God more fully.
Take a careful look at your time and how it's being leveraged to help people love and be loved by God more fully.
*One last caveat before you keep scrolling—yes, God may see your faithfulness and give you more to manage. But I also strongly believe the enemy may give you more to reward your unfaithfulness (Matt. 4:9). Since the enemy is a master deceiver, he can easily trick us to confuse success with blessing. The more we have, the more we're consumed—mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Often this makes it harder to live a Kingdom life (Matt. 19:24).
So be on guard.
And with what you've been given, freely give.