In the book of Proverbs Dear gracious father we thank you so very much for your son Jesus Christ who's come and died on the cross for our sins We ask that you would help us understand your word understand the principles that are found here That you'll help us walk by the power of your spirit that we would seek to honor and glorify you to Have a Christlike life and response to the things that you give. We're so very thankful for all that you've blessed us with, even for our mothers and those spiritual, godly women that you've brought into our life that have taught us, showed us what does it look like to live for you, has encouraged us and prayed for us. We are just so very thankful for All that you've given us and pray that we would be content with what we're given so that we may have a joyful and thankful life. We thank you for everything in your son's name. Amen. So I remember as a kid, My parents, but my mother specifically, would often tell me to take care of my stuff, as mothers do, right? Mothers tell their kids, we bought you this, so you better take care of it. We spent good money on that, so you better take care of the things we bought you, as a good mother would. And I remember even as a kid going, I will never say some of the things to my children the way my mother has said things to me. It's funny how maturity changes your viewpoint on all of that because not only do I say the same things, I unashamedly quote my mother openly saying, if your grandmother, if I would have done that, your grandmother, she would have handed back my jaw to me, right? I'm very thankful for my own mother. She was a great example of a godly woman. Very thankful for the women that God has brought into my life, especially the older saints that have acted like a mother to me and have prayed for me, encouraged me, said the motherly pieces of advice in a motherly way towards me. And one of the things that has been a constant theme of what my own mother and what some of the godly women that God's brought into my life, one of the constant themes is this theme of stewardship. And that's what we're gonna talk about today in Proverbs 27. I'm gonna be in verses 23 through 27. We're gonna discuss stewardship. An important lesson that parents teach their kids, our mother taught us. It's my hope that as we look at this, we will seek to glorify God through responsible stewardship, right? And as we begin to learn and think about some of the things that are said here, that we'll understand what stewardship is. that will begin to think like Christ, and as a believer, yielding to the power of the Spirit, we're going to utilize those resources that God's given us, right? For His honor and for His glory. This morning, in the book of Colossians, struck again by that where Paul says, and Christ is the creator of all things, right? And all things were created by him, and then that little preposition, for him, meaning that the purpose of creation is to honor and glorify God. And the things that are given to us as stewards are meant to be used in that glorification of God, right? Everything's for him. There's no purview of life that doesn't include thinking about Christ and how what I do, what I say, what I think, how I use this, how I use that, how should this honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ? How do I use this in a way that's discerning and wise? And that's really what we're gonna talk about this morning. So go with me to Proverbs 27 verse 23. Allow me to read this and then I'll talk a little bit about where we're going after I read this. Proverbs 27 verse 23 says, know well the condition of your flocks and give attention to your herds. For riches do not last forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and vegetation of the mountain is gathered, the lambs will provide your clothing and the goats the price of a field. There will be enough goat's milk for your food, for the food of your household, and then I like this, and the maintenance for your girls. I just like the way that ESV puts that, right? And so what we're going to do is, before we kind of discuss some of the things in the text, I just want to kind of give us an overview of stewardship. What is biblical stewardship? What does that look like? What are some of the theological foundations that we need to have? I find it's going to be helpful to say this all up front so that I'm not sitting here repeating myself. going off on weird rabbit trails in the midst of talking about this text. But I think it's important for us to have this before we get in. Then what we're going to do is we're going to look at verse 23 and 24 as a extra bolstering of our understanding of God's stewardship, that God gives us a stewardship. And then in verses 25 through 27, then we're going to look at how do we utilize the things that God's given us? What are some of the things that, why does God give us resources? Like why does he give us jobs? Why does he give us stuff? And how are we supposed to use that? And what's the proper use of those things? And think about some of the theological implications. So first, let's kind of just think about biblical stewardship, okay? Biblical stewardship starts with this concept that we are not the creator. Now I know that you would go, of course I know I'm not the creator. Right, that seems like an obvious place to start. Why do we start there? Because we often forget the fact that we are not the creator. The human heart is an idle factory. We are constantly redefining God, constantly redefining the creator, constantly forgetting the existence of that creator. And so it's important to remember this point. You are not the creator. You are a creature. You are created. Because God is the creator, he owns everything. Now, I know some of you, when you hear that word everything, you might supplant in your mind a lot of things. He owns a lot of things, but there's some things that are mine. No, you have to understand this point. He owns everything. He owns everyone. Everyone is his. Every soul is his. Everything is his. The tree out front, that's his. The ground that it's on, that's his. This building is his. This tie, it's his. Right? Everything is his. It belongs to him. Why? He's the creator. Not only is he the creator, not only does he own everything, but as I stated earlier, Jesus created all things. It happened through him and it's created for him. So it's not just that God just created and said, well, let's just see what happens. I'm bored. How about a big reality TV show? That's not what we are. We're not a big reality TV show for God. We are created and everything is created to bring him honor and glory. Even the flower in the mountain that no one will ever see, that is created for His glory. It exists to glorify Him. Its mere existence glorifies Him. Everything is created for His glory. So He owns everything. It's for him, we're not the creator. But it is interesting that we are made in the image of God, right? And part of that being made in the image of God does come with a certain responsibility. So we gotta go back to Genesis. So let's go back to Genesis chapter one. Keep your finger here, because we're coming back to Proverbs. We're not gonna spend a long time in Genesis, but it's important, it's important. This is our, This is our owner's manual, right? This is why we were created. Here's what God had in mind for our creation. So let's just start in verse 26. It says, then God said, let us make man. Okay, so we gotta stop here. Huge discussion on why God says let us. Who's the us? There's some who think God's speaking in the royal plural, right? You know how, I don't know. royalty, they sometimes refer to themselves as we. We. We do this. I don't think God's referring to himself in a majestic plural here, right? It's a little strange because he doesn't do that in other places, right? Some people think, well, he's talking to the angels. The angels aren't the creators, right? What angel creates? It must refer to God himself. And though it doesn't explicitly say it, we know from the rest of Scripture, and as we put all of Scripture together, we can look at this and go, well, this is a conversation within the Trinity, right? That's what we're seeing. That's what we hear. We hear a conversation within the triune being. We believe in one God. in nature, but three in distinct persons, right? So three distinct persons. And here's this conversation that says, let us make man. And then notice it says, in our image and in our likeness. A lot of discussion on image and likeness. I see them as kind of being the same thing, being made in our image and likeness. This doesn't mean physical likeness. But I do think this is what it means. And I want to be careful because This might, as Greg said this morning, this might sound blasphemous, but if you think about it, I guarantee it's not. Human beings are created the closest to God out of all creation. We are the most like God out of all creation. This doesn't mean that creation doesn't bear marks of his character, but humans, we are the closest possible thing to God as a created being. That's it. We're made in his likeness. We're the closest. Obviously, there's some limitations. Obviously, there's a lot of things that we could talk about. But that's basically what I think is happening. We're God-like, right? Doesn't mean we are divine, doesn't mean that there's a spark of divine inside of us, but as human beings, we have this special dignity, right? Above all creation. In fact, it is stated in such a way that it's like as if God created the entire universe, the entire world, all the things in it, to demonstrate his glory specifically to humans. That's it, the center, humans. We're the crown jewel of all of creation, okay? That will be important as we discuss some other things later. But notice what else it says. It says, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over the livestock, over all the earth, over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So notice that God creates us in his image. Yes, so that we can have a relationship with him. Yes, so that we can glory in him. One of the things that God's given us in our creation is what? This idea of dominion, right? He owns it, but he leaves us as what? A manager? I guess we could say that, right? Like somebody who's in charge of something. So we have dominion, and notice the extent of this dominion over fish, over birds, over livestock, and then notice this, over all the earth. So we have to understand that from the very beginning, this idea of stewardship is kind of baked in to our DNA. Humans are meant to be stewards of the earth. We don't own it, it's not ours, it's his. But we are to exercise dominion. Now notice what it says next. It says, verse 27, so God created man in his own likeness, and the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. By the way, men and women both are his likenesses. image barriers. Don't look at this and go, well it says multiple times that only a man's made in the image of God and a woman's not. That's not necessarily what's being said here. So then notice what it says next. It says, and God blessed them, and he said to them, be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it. Well, there you go, subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding its seed that is on the face of all the earth. and every tree and its seed of its fruit, you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens that has breath of life, I have given you every green plant for food. And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. There was evening, there was morning, the sixth day. So notice that not only do we have dominion over the animals, we have dominion over the plants, right? It's for us, it's for us. And notice that as God gives this stewardship to our first parents, which transfers to us, notice that as God gives this command of stewardship, he says he looks at all that he created with the implication of the purpose of why they're created, and looked at it and said, what? This is very good. So it's very good that Christians are stewards and that we're responsible stewards. Now we know what happens, right? We know that sin enters the world and that this causes a whole bunch of serious problems. Guess one of those issues where there's that problem? The stewardship of the earth. It's amazing to me how We are given such a beautiful gift, such as the earth, and how many times it's used, not as a stewardship, but as seen for our own selfish means and gains, right? Think back to the Old Testament. It was God gave, he gave lots of commands, right, in the Old Testament. One of those commands was what? How you plant, right? God's interested in even the planting practices of the Israeli farmers. And they were supposed to plant, they were supposed to reap, but they were also supposed to not cut the corners, right? Those corners were for the poor that don't have land, but they can use that, right? And if they drop something off the wagon, guess what? Don't pick it up. That's for the people walking by, for the people behind. And then God gave this interesting command. He said, and don't overwork the ground. Give it a break. And if you don't, that's a bad thing. So God cares about that. Interesting other thing, too, is when you think about God distributing land to the Israelites, He gave each tribe specific boundaries. And those specific boundaries, though they could be sold, had to be given back to the family that He gave it to. God does give these things as stewardships, and it's our job to take care of them, not as our own, but as His, doing it for His honor and His glory. This is the idea of stewardship. Now, you would say, well, Caleb, there's much more to stewardship than just land, right? Of course, there's stewardship in money, there's stewardship in time, there's stewardship in talents, there's stewardship in spiritual gifts, there's stewardship with a lot of things. But everything that is given to us by God is meant to be used for His honor and His glory. That either means to encourage and help others within the church, to encourage and help those outside of the church in hopes that as they see the goodness of God demonstrated through the kindness and sympathy of His people, that this would woo them then to the kindness of Christ who died on the cross for their sins. This is kind of the idea of stewardship. There's a lot more that we could talk about, right? I'm sure we could spend significant amount of time talking about how we use our time, stewardship of time, go to Psalm 90, right? Teach us how to number our days. We could spend time thinking of 1 Peter and how do we use our gifts. We could think of Hebrews chapter 10 about how we encourage one another, stimulate one another to love and good deed. We could look at numerous examples of believers in the New Testament as they gave what they had to help the advancement of the gospel. Think of Philippians. Paul was over the moon that the Philippians were concerned about the advancement of the gospel. Yes, he was thankful that he received a gift, but he was more taken with how they saw their giving, the stewardship of the things that God gave them, as a furthering of the gospel that people may know Christ. That's what he was thinking about, and that's the idea of a stewardship. It's, I don't own it, he owns it, he let me take care of it, I take care of it and use it for his purposes. That's kind of the basic idea of stewardship. So now when we go back to the book of Proverbs, notice what Solomon says here as he's given this advice. Proverbs 27, notice the first thing he says, he says, know well the condition of your flocks and give attention to your herds. Now to us, some of us, we didn't really grow up around a lot of livestock and owning livestock. Livestock as being one of the major sources of food, of clothing, of money for our family. Some of you may have done that, and some of you may have even worked for people that have done that. But in the modern world, this is kind of a thing that's kind of escaped us. Back at the time of Solomon, herds and flocks, they were actually currency. trade currency by flocks, right? So to have a flock, that was important. And to maintain your flock was a way to maintain and invest in your future. And even in the United States, it's kind of funny, we think about this. We have a lot of euphemisms for money, right? Bucks. You know why it's called bucks? Because back in the day, back in pioneer days, they used to trade in what? Buckskin. They would go and they would trade fur, pelts. That was currency, right? Greens, right? There used to be greens and tobacco and lettuce. Those were actual forms of currency that you could use to trade. So for us, we live in a different economic time. Just know this, Solomon, as he's telling us, as he's reminding us, he says, know well the condition of your flocks, to check in, to be a wise steward, to make sure that you're taking care of the things that you have. And the theological underpinning of this is because it's given to you as a stewardship from God. This isn't just a, hey, take care of the stuff you have because it's expensive. This is take care of the stuff you have because God is the one that's allowed you to have it. And he expects you to use it in a way that brings him honor and glory. So know well, right? Know well, just don't know about it. Know well intimately the condition of your flocks. Now I got a rabbit trail here, but I don't think it's technically a rabbit trail if it's talking about Jesus. Yesterday, we were talking about Jesus as the good shepherd. It's interesting, Jesus as the good shepherd knows all of his sheep by name. He knows them intimately, right? He protects them. feeds them, he brings them in and out of pasture, right? And he protects them from thieves. And so in one sense, when I saw this, I thought, well, of course, that's what you do, right? When you have a whole bunch of sheep or goats or whatever livestock you have. Yeah, you protect it, you feed it, you make sure it's got water, you make sure it's got what it needs. Sometimes sheep can be temperamental. But you know their condition, you know them, you know them by name, right? So know well, be intimately acquainted with what's going on, right? That's the idea. And give attention to your herds, right? So it's kind of the same idea, really know what's going on. Be wise with what you have, be wise. Because the way that you handle your responsibilities is as much of worship as sitting here listening to me. Right? Because as we take care of our stuff, with the understanding of I'm taking care of this because it's not mine, the Lord owns it, it's given to me to take care of, that's an act of worship. And I'm doing this and I'm taking care of these things for his honor and his glory, that I may use these things for him. So the idea is no, take care, feed, protect, give them water, you know, all the stuff that's needed for an animal to live and to be comfortable and to grow, that's what Solomon's saying. And then notice he gives an explanation of why this is important. Notice in verse 24 he says, riches do not last forever. So the idea is, and it makes sense, Take care of what is given to you by God. Maintain it because you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. One thing that I do know is money constantly is changing value. Money doesn't last forever, right? These things don't last forever, so make sure you take care of what you have so that it lasts a little bit longer. It doesn't last forever, but it may last a little bit longer. You may need this stuff in the future. And then notice what he says, and he says, does a crown endure to all generations? So just because you have a father or a grandfather or a great-grandfather or a great-great-grandfather who was a really wise believer who understood the idea of stewardship and provided for future generations by discernment and biblical living, that doesn't mean that that resources that he procured way back when will endure to the son, grandson, great-grandson. Here, we could say, Solomon is teaching us, yes, to be good stewards, but he's also teaching us a little bit about discernment. Just remember, this is in the whole context of wisdom and seeking wisdom. And if you and I realize wealth doesn't last forever, then it can't be the ultimate goal of the thing that we're seeking to get. Right? Because it's not worthy of us. Because it doesn't last forever. The things that we should pursue and invest in are those things which are eternal. And friends, I only know of a couple things that are eternal. What's eternal? People. People are eternal, right? The soul is eternal. What else is eternal? God and his word. Those are eternal. Everything else will burn or decay or rot or rust. And so when we're talking about real investment and thinking about what's the really important thing, remember this, your money, the value won't last, right? The beautiful guitars and ukuleles that we have, they won't last. Right? The cars, they won't last. The guns won't last. The fishing rods won't last. The sewing machines won't last. Somebody a couple weeks ago called me and wanted to know if the church could use a typewriter. And I said, I don't think we could. We don't need a typewriter. But thank you for thinking. And she said, oh, that's a shame, because it's brand new when I bought it. The idea was, she thought it was incredibly valuable, and maybe, but not really, right? Things have moved on. It's not eternal. It's not an eternal thing. Therefore, it's not worthy of our serious consideration and investment. Those things which are eternal, that's worthy of a believer to invest in, right? That's a wise, discerning person. But a wise, discerning person also realizes, well, I need money, right? I need resources. It's not wrong to get these things, So a wise person is able then to have this balance of that eternal perspective, the immediate needs, to think about, I've been given these things to take care of, to use for God's honor and his glory, so that Christ may be exalted by the way I do this. But these things don't last forever, right? So, understand our stewardship, right? That's what it is. God gives us things so that we may use them to honor and glorify him. Now the question is, what does that look like and why does he give us stuff? How do we think about it? Well then, that's the next part, right? Of utilizing those resources. Because notice what he says in verse 25. He says, when the grass is gone and new growth appears and vegetation of the mountain is gathered. By the way, notice here that Remember back in Genesis that the earth is given to us, plants are given to us, the seeds are given to us. It is okay to go out and harvest. That's what he's saying, it's okay. Because God's given us that purview, right? That's part of our stewardship, that's part of the responsibility. It's okay and expected for us to harvest. Let me just say this, because I know that there's a lot of people in this room that hunt and fish, know this. It is okay to harvest those things. That's okay. That's part of our purview. Can we go overboard with that? Yeah, of course you can. Has it happened? Yeah. Was that wrong? Of course it was. A good steward doesn't take everything. A good steward is one who goes, what's best for everybody? What's the best that brings glory to God? A good steward is one who has self-control. Right? Is it okay to go out and harvest wild berries? Only if you put it in cookies. Of course that stuff is okay. Is it okay to own a piece of land and cultivate it? Of course. That's kind of implied here, right? But notice this interesting thing. It says, when the grass is gone and the new growth appears, Question, who causes that growth to appear? Is it your ability to work the ground that causes things to grow? Not really. Who causes things to grow? God's the one that causes things to grow. Now, there's certain things that help the health of plants, of course, right? But I've been in the woods, I can't grow a cactus to save my life. And next thing you know, there's a berry tree growing on the middle of a mountain. There's no soil up there. How's a tree grow? I don't know, because God causes it to grow, right? That's the point. God causes these things to grow. Of course, is there good technique and good practice to help the health of those plants, to grow those plants? Of course. Is that OK? Of course it is. That's our purview as stewards. We are to cultivate. Right? It's not wrong to harvest. It's not even wrong to harvest these things to give to others. That's not wrong. It's kind of expected. It's not even wrong to harvest these things for a profit. But once again, can we go overboard with that? Yeah, we can. See, God's given us this stuff as a stewardship for us to utilize. It's a shame that today people are so confused about this concept. I mean, this is stuff that's talked about all the time on the news, and it seems like nobody really has a biblical perspective. Of course, then, who expects the news programs to have biblical perspectives? But there's this constant back and forth of these two different things. Look, friends, we need to be biblical above political. We need to be biblical above all things. It's good to harvest and it is good to conserve, right? It's kind of implied in being a good steward. So notice what it says here, then it says the vegetation of the mountains is gathered. And then notice it kind of implies that this vegetation that's gathered will be used in helping your flocks, helping others, because notice it says, and the lambs will provide your clothing. So God gives us these things to provide for us. The lamb and taking care of the lamb has this added benefit of providing clothing. God has given you things and responsibilities and jobs to provide for ourselves. Now, you might say, well, Caleb, that's not really a theological thing, is it? Of course it is. Remember in the book of Thessalonians, where Paul talks about those people who have a bad view of God and a bad view of eschatology. They had the idea the world's going to end. So why should I go to work if the world is going to end? And so what did they do? They went to the people who did work and was a constant burden on those people. And what is Paul's principle? He says, that's wrong. In fact, it's so wrong that it could be grounds for church discipline. And he says, if you don't work, You don't eat. So as a Christian, we realize, I've been given stuff and a responsibility to work, and this is how God provides for me. My job is a means by which God provides for me, and he's given that to me specifically to provide. If I fail to take advantage of that stewardship, then I don't fully understand how God provides, his nature, his character, and my responsibility. That's a big deal, right? Everything about what was happening in Thessalonica, about those people just saying, well, yeah, no, I'm just gonna go to my Christian brother and let them feed me, and then I'm gonna go to this other Christian brother and let them feed me, and then I'm gonna go to this other one and let them feed me, and let them feed me, and let them feed me. How selfish and self-centered is that? I would love to say that the church kind of learned to come out of that, but we haven't. There's a lot of people who assume that the church is here just to give them stuff. That is not why we exist. We exist to come together, to encourage one another, to stimulate one another, to love in good deeds, so that we live for the Lord Jesus Christ and bring him honor and glory. But be careful. As in all things, there's always balance. I know that there's situations where there's people that are able to work, but they can't because they can't find a job. Or I know situations where people are too hurt to work. And yes, does the church need to help and have sympathy? Of course. Why do you think the Lord gave us jobs so that we can have resources? And do we have those resources solely for ourself? Of course not. There is numerous examples in the New Testament of acting with Christ-like love, saying, the Lord has given me this so that I can encourage my brother and sister, right? Have this attitude which was in Christ Jesus, not to only look out for your own needs, but for those around you. Right, so this is why he gives it. He gives this stuff to provide. And so you can provide yourself with clothing. God's given you an intelligence that you can use to provide. God's given you many things. And those things are meant to be utilized in a way to provide for yourself, right? We're not just talking about physical resources here. We're also talking about talents and temperaments and intellect and time. All of that is meant to be used to help provide for yourself. And then notice what it says next, and the goats, the price of a field. Now, some commentators here like to say, well, look at the difference between a sheep and goats here, and they tried to draw this huge theological delineation of how good sheep are and how bad goats are. It seems like here that both of them are profitable, right? Because you can use the land for clothes, and then you could sell the goat for a field. or for the price of a field. So you can buy stuff, you can use the goat to buy stuff. It's the idea of wise stewardship and utilizing it, utilizing it in a proper, wise way that brings honor and glory to God. And then he says in 27, there will be enough goat's milk for food. Amen, amen, you'll have enough food for yourself. And then notice this, and the food of your household. Oh, so here we realize that when God's given us stuff to provide, it's not just for us. It's for other people as well, right? We work for other people. We take care of ourselves and we take care of those around us in our household, those who are our blood. This is part of that stewardship, right? This is a part of what we do. Right? Gentlemen, this is why you have a job and you go out and you work so that your family can have stuff to eat, a place to live and clothing. And let me remind us of this. As believers, work is not the enemy and there is no job below us as the believers. If I have to go flip burgers to make ends meet for my family, that is my responsibility to provide, and I will do that, and I will do that onto the Lord. I've met many believers that say, well, those certain jobs are below me as a believer. Who do you think you are? No, our primary responsibility is to provide. Now, does that mean that you always stay at the same job, that you can't look for advancement and career advancement? No, but it does mean that there is a sense of responsibility and stewardship and that God's given us this stuff so that we can provide, right? That's a biblical perspective. I need to take care of them. First and foremost, how that happens, as long as it honors and glorifies God, and it actually does provide, that's what I'm gonna do. And I love this, I love this next part, because it says take care of your household, and then I love this extra thing that Solomon puts, and the maintenance for your girls. Maintenance for your girls. Some translate this as your servants, right, to help sustain your servants, to take care of those who work for you. That's really the idea. The idea is that there's these servants that are part of the household. They might not have a family. They might not. It doesn't matter. But be concerned for them, those other people, right? Take care of those who are underneath you. So God's given us these things to utilize to take care of ourselves, of our physical needs, those of our family, and even those around us who, in this case, they really depend on that family for a paycheck. Take care of them. In the English, it reads kind of weird, doesn't it? Maintenance of your girls, right? It's not like, We would, I normally think of maintenance as for cars, right? You don't do that to girls the same way you treat, maybe some of you treat your cars really nice, so maybe that's the way you need to do it. But the sense is to provide, to maintain, to help. So the concern is, the concern is outside of my family as well, right? For those who really need it. Now, remember friends, stewardship is of our entire lives, not just, money, right? All of us have time. How do you use your time? Are you a good steward of your time? Do you bring honor and glory to God by your time? Or do you, like me, get lost in an endless YouTube wormhole where you spend 14 hours learning how to put on a rubber bridge on your guitar? Well, maybe you might not look at the rubber bridge on your guitar, but you might get lost in the YouTube wormhole, right? You watch a video and then it suggests the next video. You go, yeah, that is a good suggestion. Then you watch the next one. Another suggestion, that's a good one to watch. How are you with your time? How are you with your intellect? How are you with the gifts that God's given you? Are you using your spiritual gifts to help your brothers and sisters around you? Can you honestly look in the mirror and say, I'm doing, I'm using all that God has given me to bring him honor and glory. Am I using my resources in a way that encourages my brothers and sisters? Am I using my resources in a way that helps the furtherance of the gospel? Now I will say this, let me say this. I generally see most of you in this building as being pretty good stewards. I think most people in this room do a really good job of being good stewards with what God's given us. This church is, has enough money to function, we can keep the lights on, we can help the furtherance of gospel all around the world. Think of that. This little church is able to take what God's given and have more than enough to then help missionaries all around the world. Not only that, but there are several times where there's been several individuals who have brought in, hey, my garden had a, Had a bang crop this year. I brought a whole bunch of potatoes for everybody. Or there's some of you that are really nice and you go, hey, we got extra crabs. Anybody want extra crab? Amen for those people. There's people that bring cookies for fellowship. Now you think that's a small thing, but it's not a small thing, is it? I mean, that's a huge thing. That's being a good steward of what God's given us, that you would take time out of your life to make cookies for other people that won't pay you for the sole purpose that when we get together, we can talk about the Lord and encourage one another. That's a big deal. That's being a good steward. Now, we're not perfect. None of us are perfect. So we should strive to be more like Jesus and be good stewards. I remember my mother, I grew up in a pretty poor condition. My dad was a pastor and didn't make a lot of money. And I remember my mom encouraging us kids to spend time with the Lord, use what the Lord's given us to honor and glorify him. Every time we did something for the Lord, my mom was the first one to encourage us, to applaud us for stepping out in obedience. My mom made sure that we had the things we needed to take care of ministry stuff. I also remember my mom late nights cutting coupons. I remember my mom going to the Ding Can store, right? where you don't know necessarily what you bought, but the can was dinged, so you knew the can wasn't opened, but you don't know what it is, guess what we're having for dinner? Every night's a mystery. I remember those nights. I remember money that my family didn't have to bless my brothers and sister, and My family didn't have enough money, but my dad went out, my mom went out from my mom's insistence to go out and buy us video games. We didn't have money for video games. I remember my mom spending time for potlucks, and my mom would think about potlucks and what to bring to potlucks, and she would go through the list of people in the church and go, well, that person likes this, that person likes this, that person likes this, and she would make a meal considering the other people in a potluck. Amazing, amazing example that a mother can have. Amazing example parents can have. An amazing example that we can have for each other. So let us go and glorify God with what we got, right? Use what you got and glorify Him. It might not be much. Use what you got to glorify Him. You might have a lot. Use it to glorify Him. If you see a need and you can fulfill it, fulfill it. If you could give some time where there needs to be time, give it. If you can pray, pray. That's a good use of time. Spend some time in the word, amen. That's a good use of your time. Call up somebody you haven't seen in a long time and say, hey, how you doing? You doing okay? Praying for you. Is that a good use of your time? Of course, because you're investing in things that really matter. So once again, I am so very thankful for my mother, and I'm sure all of you are very thankful for your mothers, and I'm very thankful for the women, the older women who act like godly mothers to us as well. We have lots of mothers, right? So as our gift to you as you're leaving, please take a flower on our behalf as a gift of saying thank you for being here, thank you for being a mother, thank you for seeking to honor and glorify God with what you got. Thank you so very much. So I'm gonna pray and then the musicians come up and we'll sing our last.