Stewardship Lessons From God's Steward LeadersSample

A Steward Leader Recognizes That God Owns His Life

India has produced many dynamic men and women of God who have labored for the extension of His kingdom. One of the foremost among them is Sadhu Sundar Singh. He is a living example of what it really means to follow Christ. 

He was born on September 3, 1889 in a rich Sikh family in Patiala, India. He grew up in a very religious family. When he was only 7 years old, he had memorized the Bhagvad Gita, which is the religious book of the Hindus. 

But he was dissatisfied with life. His mother died when he was just 14 years old. This brought questions and anger against God who he felt had allowed this to happen. He had attended a school run by the missionaries at this time and in his anger, he burnt a copy of one of the Gospels in public.

But within three days, he felt remorse over it and on a night in December 1903, he rose from his bed and prayed that God would reveal himself to him if he really existed. Otherwise he felt it was futile living anymore and so he planned to throw himself in front of the train that passed by his house at 5 in the morning. For seven hours Sundar Singh prayed. "O God, if there is a God, reveal thyself to me tonight." The hours passed, the minutes ticked by. . Suddenly the room was filled with a glow. A man appeared before him and he heard a voice say, "How long will you deny me? I died for you; I have given my life for you." He saw the man's nail pierced hands and recognized that it was Jesus. 

Amazed that Jesus had revealed Himself to him, Sundar was convinced in his heart that Jesus was the only true God and Savior and that He was alive. Sundar fell on his knees before Him and experienced a peace which he had never felt before. The vision soon disappeared, but peace and joy remained within him forever. 

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5: 17 that “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Once a person recognizes that the life that he has does not belong to him, but to the One who created him and died for him, there is a transformation that takes place. He now realizes that he is only a steward and not the owner of his life.

You may not have a dramatic encounter with the risen Christ as Sundar Singh had, but once a person has an encounter with Jesus, he is never the same again. As the Bible says, “he is a new creature”.

The word used in Greek for creature, which is ktisis, refers to bringing something into existence which has not existed before. It is the act of causing to exist that which did not exist before, especially God's act of bringing the universe into existence. It is notable that ktisis always occurs in the New Testament in connection with God’s creative activities.  

Have   you allowed God to do His creative work in you? Have you realized that you   are not the owner of your life, but only a steward? Have you given over your   life to Him?

Quote: We are not saved by evolution but by creation! – Charles Spurgeon

Prayer:   Lord, please do a new work in me – recreate me. Amen