Stewardship

“Here, take care of this for me,” God said, handing me a plastic bag from Target.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Look inside,” he replied.

I opened the bag. There was a bible, a credit card, and a collection of photos…lots of photos of people, most of whom I didn’t recognize. “You want me to take care of these…like, put them in a safe place? Sure, I have a good place I can put them for you.”

“No,” God corrected, “I want you to take care of them."

I thought that’s what I said I would do, but apparently God had something else in mind. “Look at the bible,” God said. “What do you see?”

I set the bag down on the table, pulled out the bible and opened it to Genesis. As I skimmed through the familiar account of the creation of the world, the words on the page seemed to fade into the background and the scene of creation came to life. I flipped the pages…psalms, prophets, gospel accounts…all came off the page before me in a similar manner.

“My bible is meant to be a living word,” God explained, “not just written words on pages…and definitely not just a book collecting dust on a shelf. Read it and let it come alive in your mind and heart. Then live what you read.”

I set the bible down and took out the photos.

“You’ll recognize some of those people,” God pointed out a few. “The others…you don’t know them yet, but your lives will cross some day. These are the people I want you to serve for me. I’ll let you know how when the time comes.”

I placed the photos next to the bible and reached in the bag for the credit card. My name was stamped on the card together with an account number. Not a VISA or MasterCard, it seemed to be a hologram of the Trinity with the word GRACE written across the top.

“My grace will be sufficient,” God explained, pointing at the card, “but you must draw on that grace. I took the liberty to open your account for you, giving you your personal qualities and talents on loan. There are many more graces available. There is really no limit on how much you can receive, but I expect you to put all the graces to good use.”

I studied the card for a moment. Something was missing…there was no expiration date. As though reading my thoughts, God said, “I left it off on purpose. I find it best that people not know when their card will expire. Take care.”

Having said that, God disappeared. I put the bible, the pictures and the credit card back in the bag. I couldn’t see God, but as I headed out, I knew I wasn’t alone.