The Passion of Christ teaches us the paradox principle: to live we must first die. Holy week is a story of desperate people, from Pilate to the religious leaders, who tried to hold on to everything only to lose it all. Jesus gave up his life on Friday. But Sunday he rose from the dead. Life is the final reward of stewardship.
Some 2500 years later, I believe that this is a relevant word for Christians in Naples. If we are honest, we know that we don't ultimately belong to Naples or any other city on this earth. Notice in verse four that Jeremiah refers to God's people as exiles.
Jesus talked about money more than anything else. There is a reason for that: at the heart of everything is the heart. Jesus said, For where your heart is, there your heart will be also. If we have a passion for heaven, we will invest our treasure in its enterprises.
This parable of Jesus is both chilling and encouraging. God has given us resources, but they all belong to him. We are accountable to Him for how we use his gifts. Life stewardship is a passion to invest his resources wisely, courageously and joyfully with certainty that he will reward our faithfulness.
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