While we are spiritual beings, we live in a physical human body and in a physical world; all made by God. We are meant to be fully responsible for the totality of our existence. The old story of Adam and Eve makes the point that they meant to live in fellowship with God and were placed in a lovely environment, which they were meant to till and keep in good shape.
Like them, we too are spiritual creatures living in physical bodies and dwelling in what is meant to be a lovely physical world, which we are to maintain and enjoy. Taking care of our total existence: our spirits, our bodies, and our world is what the Bible calls stewardship and St. Paul once said: “It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” (1 Cor. 4:2)
The story of the prodigal son in Luke is about a young man who was not worthy in this regard. He decided that he would spend his life as he wished, not as his father wanted him to do. So the Bible says he “traveled to a distant country and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.” (Luke 15:13) He ended up broke, hungry, and miserable, not to mention alienated from his family.
You probably know the rest of the story, but the February issue of the Stewardship newsletter uses an interesting analogy to point out that God expects us to live in the spiritual world, but also be careful managers of our physical world. We have an enormous responsibility!
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us always to be trustworthy stewards of every gift you have given to us. May we please you always. Amen.
Author Resource:-
Meg Brossy, Parish Publishing, contributing writer for the monthly Stewardship newsletter, published to inspire the true meaning of giving.
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