by Tom Teckmeyer

In 1983, God called me to be a missionary to the financial field. As such, I am to preach the Gospel in the area of money matters. The bottom line is that God has given me the responsibility of sharing biblically based financial information with His people so that they can be good stewards of the resources He has entrusted to them.

The essence of stewardship is managing. Good stewardship means good management. The problem I see most often today is that people do not realize the role they play. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:2, "It is required in stewards that one be found faithful." We tend to think that what money we have is ours and we are not responsible or accountable to anyone for it. Nothing could be further from the truth. The first step towards faithful stewardship is to recognize that God owns all we have. Haggai 2:8 says, " 'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD Almighty." When we fully grasp this thought and give up control of our finances, we can begin to fulfill our role as a manager of God's resources.

Another trouble spot in stewardship is that few people have an eternal perspective. The day will come when we will be asked to give an account of how we have handled God's money. In the context of the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:19 says, "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them." These servants had to give a report of what they had done with the talents they had been given. Reward and punishment was handed out accordingly. In spite of Jesus' teaching here, some people think they are off the hook when it comes to accountability. But our day will come, and it does not matter how much or little we have. God will ask, "What have you done with the things I entrusted to you?" When we fall on our knees before Him, what will we say? What will He say to us?

God has given me the opportunity to come before you on a regular basis through Stewardship Solutions on Back to the Bible's website. My desire is that all of God's people will hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." I am excited to be a part of this ministry and thank God and Back to the Bible for allowing me to write this column. I look forward to opening my heart to you.

Let me leave you with this encouragement: whatever stage of life you find yourself in, as John Wesley said, "Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can." God told Abraham in Genesis 12:2, "You are blessed to be a blessing." Today, why not look for-or make-an opportunity to be a blessing to someone.

Tom Teckmeyer is president of Teckmeyer Financial Services in Omaha, Nebraska.