The Stock Market report is important news to many people.  People entrust some their earthly to brokers who make an investment on their behalf.  As a result, they want to know how their investment is growing. In a greater way, God has entrusted a precious investment in us.

In Monday’s blog, we learned that Life Stewards recognize that everything we have and experience belongs to God.  Today we will see that life stewards take what God entrusted them and invest it in His Kingdom agenda.

Three Investment Strategies of a Life Steward

As we continue our look at Jesus’ parable of the talents, we can discover three effective life investment strategies.  Jesus said the two effective servants “went at once and traded..” and as a result they “made…more.”

1.  Intentionality.

The word translated “went” (verse 16) is a very specific word that implies going in a settled, particular direction.  The fruitful stewards did not go willy-nilly playing with the money, but rather had a specific plan.

The successful life steward, consequently, lives life “on purpose,” and that purpose is God’s purpose. Life stewards intentionally look for every opportunity to invest what God has given us in ways that benefit Him. 

Our jobs become mission fields.

Possessions become Kingdom resources.

Leisure activities become opportunities to connect with others and build relationships that may one day bear Kingdom fruit.

Simply, the life steward invests every moment of life in ways that honor God and promote His agenda.

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2.  Urgency.

The servants went “at once.”  I think implied in their immediate action was a sense of readiness.  They were ready for the opportunity before it arrived.  As a result, when it arrived they immediately sprang into action. 

In the parable, the master did not return for a “long time” (verse 19), nevertheless, the servants did not procrastinate. Life stewards do not wait until tomorrow to start investing what God entrusted to them.  Every day we delay using what God entrusted us is a day we lose opportunity to grow God’s investment in us.   

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3.  Effort.

The successful servants “traded” with what their master had entrusted them.  The word translated “traded” includes a root that implies work.  This is the word from which we get the engineering term “erg,” which describes a unit of work or energy.  The success of the servants came as a result of their willingness to expend effort and energy.  They did not sit around and wish the investment would grow, rather they took action that caused it to grow.

Trading with their master’s money also came with great risk.  What if they lost it?  Would they fail?  What if the master returned before the investment came to fruition?  What if someone scammed them and took off with the money?

Fruitful life stewards are men and women of both faith and action.  Life stewards are willing to face threat of risk or failure, because they understand the payoff is worth the risk.

Accordingly, We cannot expect to succeed as life stewards by sitting around waiting or hoping for good things to happen.  Stewardship of life requires us to get involved and put God’s entrusted treasure to use for His agenda.

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Questions to Consider:

1. What intentional plans do you have to grow spiritually?  What is your Personal Bible Study plan? Personal Prayer plan?

2. How can you intentionally use moments on your job to invest what God has entrusted to you?

3. What excuses do you use for not using your possessions or other opportunities for Jesus’ Kingdom agenda?

4.  What will you do differently as a result of what you read today?