POOR STEWARDSHIP

A volunteer in fire department in Arkansas drew criticism for letting a house burn down.

It seems the owner hadn’t paid $20 annual fee for firefighting service. Because of the fire fighters’ inaction, two adjacent furniture shops also were destroyed.

A resident behind the shops did pay the fee while the fire was burning the shops and so his house was protected from fire.

The chief told reporters, “Once your house is on fire, you can’t pay, but if you’re a neighbor to some property that’s on fire, you can pay & join.”

When a house would burn down, fire fighters would simply stand by to see that the blaze didn’t spread to the homes of people who had paid the $20 fee.

Many of us act in just the same way. The punishment for our poor stewardship is always loss. Only when we face the loss, we start trying to make it up to God:

• Marriage - staying home from church until the storms start rising.

• Children - making church a priority once they start rebelling.

• Finances - start promising to give once it’s gone.

We cause the “fire” and then we expect God to put the fire out!

When the house catches on fire that is not the time to start paying the fire fighting fee!

Source: ‘Enough Is Enough’, John Westfall  (ministry127.com)

Pro 1:25-26 (NCV): “You did not follow my advice and did not listen when I corrected you.  So I will laugh when you are in trouble. I will make fun when disaster strikes you.”

“Many of our trouble occur because we base our choices on unreliable authorities; culture ("everyone is doing it"), tradition ("we've always done it"), reason ("it seems logical"), or emotion ("it just felt right").” -  Rick Warren.