Stewards of the Mysteries of God

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2

How do you know the Bible is the Word of God? There are many very legitimate approaches to answering that question. But what to me is the most convincing evidence that this book is God's revelation of ultimate reality, of final truth, is the fact that here in this book I find revealed about life certain truths which are essential to me to be able to live life as it was intended to be lived. I find this nowhere else.

There are certain essential elements which I must know if I am going to handle life properly. These are what mark this as God's book about life. In 1 Corinthians 4:1, the apostle Paul calls these the mysteries God has revealed to us. The thing that grips me is the fact that to us — we plumbers, carpenters, doctors, bankers, housewives, laborers and construction workers — to us have been committed the mysteries of God. We are stewards of the mysteries of God. They are given to us so that we might understand them, and begin to live on them ourselves, and then by that demonstration to impart them to others around us.

Do you have any idea how dark and hopeless this world would be, were it not for the dissemination of these mysteries of God through the centuries already? And we have a responsibility to our own generation to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God.

I am disturbed at how few of our people have habits of personal Bible study. We all love to go to church and listen to the truth expounded. But many only go and drink it all in, but never go beyond that. You will never be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God that way. You will never be able to demonstrate these secrets in your own life until you personally begin to dig deeper into the Scriptures. It is only as you take these guidelines and begin to translate them into your own situation, that these truths begin to come alive and the community starts taking notice that here indeed are people who have learned to live in a wholly different way. Only thus can we become faithful stewards of the mysteries of God.

The ultimate demonstration is what takes place down in the blood, sweat and tears of the marketplace and the home and the school and wherever we are. This is what makes me know the Scriptures are the Word of God. They solve the problems of life. Ask yourself how faithful a steward you are of these great secrets. These are the riches God has entrusted to us to disseminate through our lives to others.

Father, forgive me for the neglect of your Word. What a fantastic treasure of knowledge is here in these pages! Help me to give myself to it. Amen.