Lord Deliver Me from My Dreams!

I have had an opportunity to ride in a Range Rover Vogue on a number of occasions, and man, don’t I want to own this metal! Yes, I mean exactly that, I am so fascinated with this car that if you asked me what my dream car is, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you it is the Range Rover Vogue… maybe metallic-black in color (someone told us if you want a car, especially if you’re making your request known to God you need to be specific… and color matters in this case J) Everything about the car stuns me, starting with the just right touch of masculinity expressed in its body shape and stylish finish, the power, it’s performance, the engine sound, its luxury and comfort… just to name but a few… am not a car expert… so I may not be in a position to describe all the nitty-gritties with the accurate automobile jargon… but I believe my description makes you understand why for me that would count as my ultimate choice for a car… and I qualify as one of its aficionados.

Well… that said, I doubt if I will ever come to a point of owning one in my entire life… that is the sad truth… well, am not saying I will not… am just saying I doubt if I will ever own one… and here is my reasoning, based on my convictions… you have the liberty not to agree with what I say, but I hope you will see some sense in what I say…

The first thing I ask myself (or ought to ask myself, considering that there are times when I forget this altogether) before deciding to acquire something is the question, “why do I need this?”… Many a times, I have found myself going to a large extent acquiring stuff that I later on realized I didn’t need or that I would have done better with another simple, cheaper alternative… The other point is about my priorities at the time of making the decision to acquire that something. Is there something else that is more important, which would require my attention as I am considering this particular item? And… yes! You guessed right… this inevitably brings me to the point of Christian stewardship… which is at the very core of my heart. In other words, how do my daily decisions demonstrate Christian stewardship in my life? By saying it is at the core of my heart, I don’t mean I am already there, I only intend to say, I desire to be there… it’s a journey.

Looking at life generally, and the decisions we make, one realizes that sometimes the very essence of scripture escapes our practical living as Christians… and I can attempt to delve into at least one root cause of our problem today. For one, many of us have been brought up in this competitive generation, where our success is not necessarily determined by how much we achieve, but rather, how better we perform in comparison to others… If I am lying, one should just look at our education system. This may not be the case, but in my country, all the way from kindergarten a child understands that true success is when he or she beats all pupils in her class, and of course, the top pupil will be rewarded, and the bottom pupil will be encouraged to pull up their socks. This leaves no room to appreciate diversity in the sense that one pupil could be good in one area, or even subject area, but poor in another, and hence the need to appreciate his achievement as well. I am not a curriculum specialist, so I should not be quoted, I know some who are good at it. But maybe very much honored and appreciated “prof D.N.W” can agree with me on this, being an expert in this field.  Unfortunately, we carry along with us this competitive spirit in life way after school without knowing it.

Now what am I saying? What I am saying is that, when you realize that you want to realize certain milestones in life, in most cases, you are doing this because you have seen others doing it and you want to be like them if not better. Huh! And so, back to my illustration of my dream Range Rover Vogue… the thing is good to have, but what motive informs my desire for the car? If it is to serve a specific purpose that another car wouldn’t serve, I would gladly go for it… And sure enough, I believe, and I know that there could be some occasions in future, when the Range Rover would come in handy for me. However, if acquiring the car is just meant for me to achieve a certain status, then I am certainly headed down the drain.

To begin with, in this society we live in, where everyone is in competition, you will never outmatch anyone… that’s a hard lesson I have come to learn. Everything is dynamically changing. I am a computer engineer, and I recently just realized that I am way behind technology and at the moment I am trying my best to be abreast with the latest developments. Every single day technological advancement is exponentially growing. In fact, this morning (yes this morning) I just dreamt that I was somewhere and some friends were installing Visual Studio 2018 (doesn’t exist) on their computers and I felt I needed to upgrade, but I couldn’t get a copy of the software… you should have seen my frustration then. FYI, the very Range Rover that I am talking about is also evolving… by the time I get to the point of getting one, the one trending will be a totally different model. I really have to work hard if I am to get there…

In light of all I have discussed above, below are 3 points that will help us live and operate with biblical stewardship in mind: 

1. Acknowledge that all things belong to God, and we’re just but managers

Psalms 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein

Everything belongs to God, and that includes my body, my family, my money, my talents my work, my environment, my country, animals, vegetation, rocks, seas… anything humanly imaginable. Once we understand this, we realize that we own nothing, including the packet of salt you just bought this morning. When it is in your hand, it only means God has seen it fit for you to be its manager at the present time. So next time before you claim that anything is yours, first acknowledge that it belongs to God. He is therefore the one to determine how you are going to use it. If you have money, before spending it, it is important for you to ask yourself what God would want you to do with it. If he tells you to buy those latest Air Jordan 5 Low Alternate 90 sneakers, we praise God! You will be doing it in obedience.

2.  The need to take good care of what God has given us and ensure its sustainability

1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful

One question that many Christians are not able to answer is when they are asked why they do neither take alcohol nor smoke. I personally thank God that He helped me understand why I should not take alcohol, as an act of stewardship. Having learnt that everything belongs to God, including my body and that I should be faithful in taking good care of it, I have no choice but to keep my body healthy at all times. This means eating well, doing plenty of exercise and avoiding by all means deliberately exposing my body to anything that will harm it. The harmful effects of alcohol and cigarettes are public knowledge, and it only takes common sense to keep them at bay. In the same way, we would not want to expose anything divinely apportioned to us for His noble use to anything that would compromise its value. Hence using our resources extravagantly with no concern for the future is an act of disobedience to God. This calls us to invest wisely and avoid mismanaging God’s property.

The spirit of the age today is that of impulsive buying, and the ads around us make us believe that we need what we do not need. We thus end up spending God’s money and resources on what we don’t need, consequently misusing what would have gone into something more constructive. So, next time you send that text that deducts KES 25 or something from your phone to enter into that lottery game, ask yourself how that KES 25, however small to you it is, would put food on the table of a poor widow in a remote village somewhere in Kenya and bring glory to God.

3. Ask yourself how what you do will impact God’s kingdom and eternity

Luke 16:1-13: The parable of the shrewd manager, Matt 25:14-30: The parable of the talents

Lastly, as someone said, and I believe it is true… the only thing we can get with us out of this life is a soul (with regard to Christ’s words in Matt 16:26). It really doesn’t profit us to gain everything and lose our own souls. This and other scriptures encourage us to have a heavenly, eternal focus. Sadly enough, many Christians do not live their lives with an eternal perspective. For quite some time I had trouble understanding the parable of the shrewd manager… how refreshing it was to me when I came to learn its truth in entirety. This is a guy who realizes that his days with his employer are numbered, and he can neither dig nor beg, the only thing he would do out there to survive. He therefore opts for a brilliant plan, making friends with his employer’s debtors so that when he leaves his employer’s service they can make room for him. In other words, he was investing in them, thinking about the future.

Unfortunately, for many of us, we never take time to think about eternity, despite the constant reminders we are given in the bible. All we are concerned about is “our best life now” as our popular authors have encouraged us to believe. We are caught up in this misleading notion that we have a very long time to stay here on earth. Instead of investing in eternity, we are investing here on earth where moths and rats destroy, and thieves break and steal (Matt 6:19). Trust me, God will require an account of our investments.

It is not too late for us to have a paradigm shift in this area of stewardship. It is quite possible for us to invest our time, resources, skills, knowledge, money, property, talents etc in eternity. And in eternity we only invest in one thing… souls. Starting with our own souls then the souls of others. And this is not very difficult to achieve. Could you consider doing the following:

·         Instead of buying that expensive suit, buy a cheaper one of a good enough quality and use the extra cash to help that poor village-mate top up for the school fees of their child who is going to form 1, and help them understand that it is the love of Christ that made you do that.

·         Rather than only spending most of your time with your best friend discussing the highest paid footballer (nothing wrong with that), also help them understand the depth of Christ’s love for them and that He’s giving them a privilege to be part of His kingdom.

·         Instead of buying that KES 2M car, consider a cheaper alternative of, maybe, half that amount that would still serve you well and use the rest of the amount to contribute for the missionary in Marsabit to get a good off-road car that would help him move around the rough terrain as he reaches out to the scattered unreached Rendille populace.

·         With the good house that God has granted you, consider inviting your neighbors over for a cup of tea as you share with them the gospel or doing bible study together, encouraging one another on in the faith.

·         As a young man in high school, instead of taking a full loaf everyday, you can consider taking half a loaf in one day of the week and save the rest to support a missionary friend in the coastal region (you will be shocked at how much you are able to give).

·         Take of a few minutes in your day to pray for an unreached people group.

·         Purpose to set aside a portion of your income, however small for a start, to support a mission agency etc

The list above is illustrative rather than exhaustive, hence there are many other practical, creative ways to be involved in investing into eternity and winning souls for Christ.

I cannot finish this article without acknowledging, and I had purposed to do this, the inspiration I get from my brother Henry (who celebrated his 45^th birthday 2 days ago) in this area of stewardship. I honestly, though he may not know this, appreciate his love for God, his devotion to his service, and his philosophy (he knows what am talking about here, especially with regard to my dream car) of life that makes me realize am not alone…

I, personally, do struggle in this area, but my continuous prayer is that God will deliver me from my small ambitions and dreams, and replace them with greater ambitions for His kingdom… It is also my prayer for you…