You Can't Take It With You

Being a wise steward

I once had a client, a rather miserly childless widow, who left her entire estate (close to a million dollars) in trust to the cemetery she was to be buried in.  I have always thought this was her attempt to try to take it all with her when she died. 

The pharaohs in Egypt arranged to be buried in their magnificent pyramid tombs surrounded in death by much of their wealth and even some of their servants and soldiers in a vain effort to try to enjoy the fruits of their labor in the afterlife. 

In Ecc. 5:15 the Bible says, “Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs.  He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand” (NIV).  So, in spite of how much we may treasure and covet all the possessions that we have accumulated during our lives – we can’t take it with us when we die no matter how much we try.

The primary reason we can't take it with us is that we don't own it to begin with! God created this earth and everything in it. In Psalms 24:1 it says, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it" (NIV). God graciously lets us use His property while we spend our time on earth. The Bible refers to that as stewardship. The dictionary defines a steward as "One called to exercise responsible care over possessions entrusted to him." In law we tend to use the term "fiduciary" (as in executor, personal representative, trustee, guardian, etc.) to describe one managing property for another. The law requires a fiduciary to use the utmost care when managing money, property or persons entrusted to him and can impose severe penalties if that trust is abused.

In Matthew 25:14-28 Jesus talks about stewardship and how God expects us to manage what He has entrusted to us.  Some He entrusts much to and to some little but all according to our respective abilities.  God nevertheless expects us to not only safeguard what He has entrusted to us but to increase it.  Thus the servant who buried the money in the ground and returned it to his master intact was severely chastened for not increasing it by at least depositing it in the bank to earn interest.  God expects us to use not bury what He has given us.  If we manage it well and increase it through good investment He will entrust more to us but if we do not manage well He will take away what little we have left.

I think this principle of stewardship applies to more than just money.  God has entrusted many things and people to us such as our spouse, our children, our natural talents and abilities and various spiritual gifts.  If we ignore them and do nothing to increase them we have not managed what God entrusted us with. 

Years ago while I was praying, the Lord showed me that my wife Linda was His daughter which made her a princess.  The King had entrusted her to me but that in the Day of Judgment I had to present her back to Him.  When I so present her will she be gracious and radiant and dressed in white or will she be trodden down, bedraggled and poor in spirit?  Will she be a queen or a pauper?  Will she have increased or decreased?  Will I have invested wisely in her?  Of course, I am not just talking to men here these principles apply to women also.

Similarly, what about our children?  Have we invested in them wisely?  What about our talents and spiritual gifts, have we increased those wisely or have we buried them deep?  So how are you doing as a steward of all that God has entrusted you with?  Will God be pleased with what you have accomplished with them so far?  Have you considered what happens to your family and God’s property when you die?  Who do you entrust it all to then and with what instructions?  Have you made a will or set up a trust?  Have you named people as executors, guardians or trustees that will faithfully continue the stewardship?  Have you clearly set out for them instructions on how to proceed or have you abandoned God’s property to chance?  A good steward plans ahead because you can’t take it with you.

This is the first in a series of articles that will deal with stewardship, estate planning and legal issues such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney and various types of charitable gifts and investments.

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