You may have heard it said that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession, but that is simply not true. The very first profession is that of steward. So what is a steward? A steward is someone who manages with authority the affairs of his master. Dr. William Barclay in his commentary on “The Letters to the Corinthians” says:

“The steward was … in charge of the whole administration of the house or the estate; he controlled the staff; he issued the supplies
and the rations; he ran the whole household; but, however much he controlled the household staff of slaves, he himself was still a slave
where the master was concerned…”

So who were the first stewards? It was Adam and Eve. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, the sun, moon and stars and the entire vast (and still expanding) universe. Then he created Man, and he created Woman as a companion and fellow worker with the Man.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and
the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

In other words he commissioned them as stewards over his creation. They were given authority to oversee what God had created, with but one stipulation.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 NIV)

Now when Adam and Eve violated this stipulation, God did not say “You’re fired!” They retained their position of stewardship, but God told them their work would become much more difficult. (Genesis 3:14-19) God’s original intention for Man to be in charge of tending to his creation has never changed. As descendants of Adam and Eve we still bear that same responsibility. And God has made it clear that he takes our responsibility seriously and will require us to give an accounting of how well we have discharged our duties. Jesus illustrated this quite plainly in his parable about stewardship in Matthew 25:14-30.

So the point of stewardship is not about how much of our money we donate to the church, but about how well we have taken care of that portion of God’s creation he has entrusted to us. After all, he created it all, including us, and it all belongs to him, including our own bodies. (I Corinthians 6:19, 20 and I Corinthians 7:23) As Job realized, we brought nothing into this world and we cannot take anything with us when we leave it. So what is important is not how much we have amassed, but how well we have performed our duties as stewards of God’s creation. That will be our lasting legacy.