Probably many of you, like me, grew up hearing about being a good steward

For most of us that was always taught about money

Since God gave you the money, be a good steward of it and tithe, use it wisely not foolishly

Let me start by saying that is all good practice and being a good steward of God’s money is something we should all do

However, today I want to look at that phrase “Be a Good Steward” in another light

In this passage what we are seeing is that we are to be good stewards of everything God has given us

This means our time, our gifts, our money, our friendships, our love, everything

Vs 7
“The end of all things is near”

I don’t know when the end will come but I know we are closer today than we were yesterday.

As people find out that their lives are coming to an end it causes them to reflect on what is really important

They may think about how they have lived and wish they had lived better.

The one thing almost everyone has in common, when that reality sets in, is what about eternity

This verse is telling us that as the end grows nearer every day we need to focus our relationship with God through prayer

When we figure out how to be purposeful about that prayer relationship, we are in a closer walk with God and things become clear

So we need to be good stewards with our time and make sure God gets that time

Vs 8 says “keep fervent in your love for one another”

This world needs a lot more love! If we are good stewards of our love, we will give it freely and often

I’m speaking of course of God’s love. What if we daily worked to show God’s love to everyone we came in contact with

I believe conflict with people would all but disappear and certainly more people would be open to hear the gospel

This seems so easy but in reality it’s probably the hardest thing for most of us to do

The biggest reason this is so hard, is the world has taught us everything is about you……but it isn’t

“Each one has a special gift” We have probably all been told this in our life but most people never explore their gift

Most of us believers have not identified what our special gifts are and so therefore we are not good stewards of them

If we identified our gifts and used them as God intended them to be used, I believe our world would look so much different

When we don’t use God’s gifts in the way He wants, we are not good stewards of that gift

Basically what we see here is that when our gifts are used, they should directly point to the God that gave them

If we are truly good stewards of the things that God has given, (and He gave everything) He is glorified

When our lives glorify God, we receive that Joy of knowing we are being good stewards and living our purpose

The bottom line is that if we as the children of God, work to be good stewards of the things God gave us, people will see Jesus in us

However, you can’t use your gifts for a God you don’t know

Do you know Him today?

Last week we heard a great message about self examination

We all need to come to a place where we have complete assurance of our salvation

If you have not yet gotten to that place, I would love to talk to you after the service today

If you know, without a doubt, that you have the salvation that Jesus offers, then it is time to Grow!

Perhaps you say “We understand this because we have known Christ a long time.”

You see, we are never too old to keep growing

Understand that we all have been given tasks according to how God saw fit to give them

Some preachers, some teachers, some apostles and some evangelists

The point here is that he didn’t appoint any of us to do nothing

He appointed all of us for the building up of the body of Christ

Vs 13 is talking about when we are in Glory and we have become mature

The point is, that until that time, none of us will reach full maturity

Then we will no longer be infants, but for now…

Tossed back and forth, blown here and there, this is how we are if we are not trying to Grow

We have to grow! We begin with the spiritual milk immediately after salvation as an infant in Christ

Infants do not stay infants! As they take nutrients, their physical body develops

As spiritual infants, we need the spiritual nutrients to grow in Christ

Speech, conduct, love, faith and in purity

Like Psalm 92:13 says “plant yourself in the house of the Lord” both physically and spiritually

Plant yourself through your own reading and studying of God’s word

Plant yourself through the corporate teaching and preaching of God’s word

Always devote yourself to a time of prayer daily

If I planted a Satsuma tree, and it didn’t grow to produce fruit, I would cut it down.

When we are planted in salvation, we need to Grow and produce fruit as the sower expected us to do.

Have you been planted in salvation?