“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?” — Luke 15:4 (NASB)

Living Out Stewardship

Demonstrating stewardship is exciting as we exercise our participation in Christ’s life as living examples for the world to see. Luke 15:4 embraces and characterizes the practice of stewardship.

As coaches, we plan our practice schedules to ensure we’re good stewards with time. We pray that we’ll “feed His sheep” and glorify the Lord with our teams. However, one area that needs attention is our stewardship of tangible items.

Understand that there’s no one coach, team or group that’s immune as we walk in the gym, picking up balls from the previous night, locking doors that were forgotten, miscalculating funds, securing gear left out, inventorying pads, equipment, etc. I’m thankful He reveals this so we can help each other in times of need.

My spirit was checked recently as I wondered if the Lord was ready to move on someone’s heart to bless our athletic department financially, yet we might not be ready to receive it. Could our Heavenly Father rely on us to count, ensuring we had 99? Could He trust that we leave the 99 and get the one left? Having 99 would allow us to casually leave one because we have “plenty.”

Are we that vigilant and diligent with our resources that He knows we are “ready” to be blessed?

Let’s be good stewards now so that we may be counted worthy to shepherd abundantly. Then, we will be able to look back praising Him for all He has done!

— Ronnie Plyler

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