Entrusted: The Treasures God Has Given Us

My friend’s son, who was a close friend of my daughter in high school, was in town for several weeks. He really needed a vehicle. My 2004 red Mustang convertible was sitting in our driveway, rarely driven as we were still in virtual lockdown.

So I loaned it to him. He came to pick it up, I went over the idiosyncrasies, what worked and didn’t work (the radio), the strange sounds, how to put the top down and up, and I handed him the keys, with a little fear and trembling.

I entrusted my beloved car to this reliable young man. Of course, I was counting on that reliability.

That’s pretty much what God has done.

He created this magnificent planet we call home—an earth of astounding beauty and richness. Then he entrusted the care and nurture and supervision of it to men and women--in the beginning, but also to you and me.

The earth and all its inhabitants. Its care, its fruitfulness, its beauty, its future. Our responsibility.

This “entrusting” is described in Genesis 1:

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the  sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.

That entrusting was greater and more comprehensive than Adam and Eve, or anyone since then could comprehend. I believe it includes the earth, the animals of sky and sea and earth, amazing resources, myriad things, our finances, the people of our lives, and also the Gospel.

In the New Testament, Paul reiterates this responsibility to be good stewards: “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:14, NASB) 

Over the next few weeks I will write about some of these treasures that our God has entrusted to us, and what it might like look like to be reliable stewards of each and all.  

I would love to have you join me on the “entrusting” journey, and would also love to hear your thoughts.

What is a treasure you have entrusted to someone, perhaps with fear and trembling. Or what is a treasure you have been entrusted with? 

C2021 Judy Douglass