Sun.’s Devo - Wise Stewards

Read: Joshua 16:1-18:28; Luke 19:1-27; Psalm 87:1-7; Proverbs 13:11 Josephs inheritance went to his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Half of Manasseh had received their inheritance on the eastern side of the Jordan River and the other half on the western side of the Jordan. The men in the tribe of Manasseh were experienced soldiers but they did not drive the Canaanites out of Gezer, so they made them slaves. They were also not able to drive them out of six other towns. There were so many people in the tribes of Joseph that they came to Joshua and petitioned for more land. He gave them the forest where the Perrizzites and Rephaites lived. Joseph’s people were not happy with that because they complained that the people in the lowlands were too strong for them. They had iron chariots. Joshua’s reply made me laugh. He said, “You WILL drive out the Canaanites from the valleys, even though they are strong and have iron chariots.” God had already told them that they would face an enemy that was stronger than them but He would go before them and drive out their enemy for them. How ironic that the tribe that was so experienced in fighting had such a hard time getting rid of their enemies. They must have been trusting in their own abilities instead of trusting in God. Seven of the tribes had yet to take possession of their land and Joshua asked them how long they were going to procrastinate. He told them to choose three men to map out the land, divided it into seven parts and bring it to him. They did and Joshua cast lots for the seven divisions. The first went to Benjamim. It ended up being a small piece of land between Judah and Ephraim’s. It consisted of 14 towns with their surrounding villages. Some of the towns that we might recognize were Bethel, Geba, Gibeon, Ramah, Mizpah and Jerusalem. In Luke, we read the story of Zacchaeus who exemplified a man who’s heart was so changed he wanted to make restitution for all he had done. That is repentance. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to die and then rise in three days. He would leave his disciples behind on earth with the promise of his return. Jesus gave a story to encourage them to keep doing his work. In his story, a nobleman was called away to another kingdom to be crowned the king. He called in ten of his servants and divided among them his 10 pounds of silver asking them to invest for him while he was gone. His people didn’t like him and sent a message to him that said they wouldn’t let him rule over them. When he returned he called in his servants and asked them how their investments went. The first one had made 10 times what had been given him. He was rewarded 10 cities to rule. The second had made 5 times as much so he was given 5 cities to rule. The third, knowing he would not get to keep it, had hidden his pound and done nothing with it. The king rebuked him for not doing a thing with what he had been given. He took his pound and gave it to the one who had made 10 pounds out of his one. I noticed that all the servants that invested got to keep what they had made. Jesus point was that those who use well what they are given, even more will be given them. These are his followers and will be rewarded when he returns. The ones who didn’t want him to be king will be executed. They represent those who choose not to lose everything to follow Christ. Lord, help us to be wise stewards of everything you have given us. You are our reward.