A Stitch in Time

I'm preaching this week on stewardship. Not stewardship in the sense of "stewardship campaigns" but stewardship in the older sense of caretaking. I like the saying, "A stitch in time saves nine." Too often we live life by default. Instead of being proactive, we just let things happen as they may. And just like great canyons were started by small rivlets of water that eroded the earth over time, so our lives are eroded by little things that are not cared for. A misunderstanding not cleared up becomes a standoff then a feud then a nest of bitterness and a relationship is lost. Failure to repair loose or missing shingles will result in rotten roofing; failure to nip a sinful habit in the bud can result in a rotten attitude and harmful behavior. Someone said in a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep that sheep get lost one nibble at a time. They graze with their heads down and are not attentitive to where they are going. They just go from one clump of grass to the next. When they don't look up and around regularly, they can get out of sight of the herd and find themselves lost. We get lost from God the same way, one little sin at a time. By failing to be good stewards of our spiritual life we wander off God's preferred path for our life. Live every day with purpose and attention. Life is not a renewable resource. We have a limited on earth. Let's make the most of it.