by Gary G Hoag (November 15, 2024)
Wise stewardship can be the key to lasting impact. By thoughtfully preparing for life’s uncertainties and ensuring our work blesses generations to come, we honor God’s design for flourishing lives, families, and communities.
They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.
– Psalm 107:37-38
Notice the difference between our responsibility and God’s role in this Scripture. People sow and plant. In turn, God blesses, brings growth in numbers, and ensures our livelihood over time. That means if we want to see flourishing in community that blesses people from generation to generation, we have diligent and faithful work to do. That’s our part. But how does this relate to finishing well?
Most of the time, people think and act as though they will work productively forever. Yet, part of our responsibility includes putting an emergency plan in place, should our capacities diminish, and an estate plan in place for when we die. Wise stewards plan to ensure the blessings that they enjoyed are transferred to the next generation and to charities that survive them, so they can bless others.
God loves wise stewardship. He loves when his people do their part and trust him to do his. This includes our shrewd preparation for crisis or total catastrophe. So, what about you? What is the state of your stewardship? Might you map a plan to ensure that the impact of your work will bless others long after you are gone?
Prayer: God, help me to map both an emergency plan and an estate plan for my family and for ensuring blessing to my community. Amen.
Read more of Finishing Well by downloading the devotional.
*Originally appeared on the National Christian Foundation’s Saturday 7, December 7, 2024.
As we are about enter a new year, you might want to consider this devotional.
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