stewing..

God woke me up this morning with the word, steward. I know that in our Christian lingo, we understand that to steward something is to manage it, or to take care of. So if I am stewarding my finances, I am managing the money God has provided for me. In the Bible, it tells us that people were stewards, or that they were in charge of certain aspects of helping the owner.

But I felt like and feel like God has given us a huge responsibility as stewards, not only with finances, but with everything.
We are to steward our family, our jobs, our friends, our relationships, our time with God. If I do not steward my time wisely, I will always be wasting time.

So then I started to break down the word. To get more meaning. Stew. ard. Stew. ing. Stew.
I started to get a deeper revelation of what it looks like to stew things.

Here was my thought: If I am making a stew, I put raw things into a huge pot and cook for a really long time right? If I tried to eat the stew uncooked, raw...I would probably get sick. Stew takes time. A really long time. To get that perfect blend or flavors. Seasoning and softness. So put this into our daily lives. How am I stewing my time with Jesus. With friends. Do I expect it all to be great before it has had time to stew?

Stay with me here. Think about it. Do I put the same stew(ing)ard time into my relationship with God, with Jesus, with His word, or am I living the fast food mentality? Am I letting His word stew in me, letting the fire produce the amazing fragrance and aroma and the softness and tenderness ? Am I stew(ing)ard my friendships ? Am I letting them take the time that is needed for the fullness of flavor ? Or am I throwing it all in the pot, turning up the heat and expecting it to be good. That will only burn it and ruin it. I have had many friendships that turned out this way. Too much fire, too much heat, and it ruins it. Stewing takes time, lots of time. It takes the right amount of constant heat, or seasonings. You know what I mean.
Are you beginning to get a different picture of stewarding?
I am. I am now thinking of my devotion time, my study time, am I letting it stew or rushing it? My friendship, am I letting them stew overtime...letting the heat bring out the best of flavor. My family, My God, My relationship, its all about time, stewing, letting the fire or heat produce the best possible result.
My friends, it is time to make stew.