Are you a good steward?

(Image courtesy of New Line Cinema.)

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." (Romans 8:1). 

In Tolkien's The Return of the King, the reader finds Denethor on the throne in Gondor.  This character on the throne, however, is not the king; he is a steward.  The true king was Aragorn, heir to the throne by lineage and right.  Had Denethor survived to the end of the book, King Aragorn would have certainly held him accountable for his evil stewardship.

Stewardship is taking care of something that isn't yours.  Just as Denethor was given the responsibility to take care of the kingdom until the king arrived, so each one of us has been given responsibility to take care of our own bodies; we are required to steward them until the King arrives.  When He does arrive, He will judge us according to our level of stewardship.

As it is written: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

None of us created ourselves.  We did not cause our birth, nor did we give feeling to our senses or breath to our lungs.  I did not create my mouth, eyes, ears, hands, or any other part of me.  I am a created being.  I am owned, then, by the One who made me - my Creator.  Therefore, I am responsible to my Creator for how I steward His creation.

In light of this, do you think a holy God, who owns our bodies and minds - but has stewarded them to us - is pleased by the things our eyes see, our ears hear, our hands do, our mouths speak, our brains think, and our hearts desire?

Reflect further on this thought: What movies do you watch?  To which songs do you listen?  What words come out of your mouth?  What are your hands doing?

Certainly, the sinner will be judged according to his actions and will receive his wages which is death.

Equally, the righteous person, who by faith in the Son of God does good, will receive his reward which is life.  It is not that the works are cause of salvation, for it is not by works that anyone can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9); on the contrary, works are the outward signs of being born again - "The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me" (John 10:25).

Each one will give an account to what he has done with his body, "for the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done" (Matthew 16:27).

May the sinner repent and ask God for mercy, for his ways are sinful and judgement is coming to him.

May the redeemed live in obedience, confessing his sins to God, looking to Christ in their weakness.  Indeed, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." (Romans 8:1).  Look, then, to Christ in weakness and temptation.

"He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury" (Romans 2:6-8).