Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. — Acts 20:28-31

Paul's goal at this moment is to communicate to the leaders in Ephesus that he is not going to be able to come to their aid any longer and that they need to bear their responsibility. And what is interesting is that he is speaking both to them and seven other men from a few different churches who happen to be traveling with him.

And Paul tells them to pay attention to some items. Five items in all:

Pay attention to yourselves.
Pay attention to the members.
Pay attention to your leadership.
Pay attention to outside teachers.
Pay attention to inside teachers.

Paul's point is clear — pay attention.

But it's the way he implores them to pay attention that is far more interesting to me in this text. He begins by imploring them to pay attention to their individual self with the perspective that they are vessels of the Holy Spirit owned by God and purchased by him. His point is that their stewardship responsibility does not come from Paul but God alone, who bought them, owns them, and indwells them with His Spirit and gives them the responsibility to care for these five items.

And this is weighty. And I think Paul has carried this burden to some degree for them, but now he needs them to carry the total weight of the burden themselves. As he hands them the burden, he wants them to know he is not handing them the burden to steward for him. Instead, he is handing them the burden to steward for God.

You know, something spectacular happens in a follower's life when they discover the stewardship principle Paul is teaching here. They discover that everything we have in this life belongs to God. That God owns it all, and everything we "have" or "purchase" or "own" is merely on loan from God. When a follower discovers this, his worldview is radically changed. And if he can learn to live daily with this worldview at the front of his mind, then the way he lives is fundamentally shaped by a God who owns all things. Therefore he leads, spends, talks, and acts as if things in this life, and even his own life, are on loan from God.

So pay attention today. Pay attention to how you lead yourselves and others. But embrace this stewardship mindset. And watch if you don't speak and act differently throughout the day.

ASK THIS: Where in your life do you need to give attention to the stewardship mindset?

DO THIS: See yourself as God's steward.

PRAY THIS: God, I recognize today I own nothing, and you own it all.

PLAY THIS: Phillips, Craig & Dean - You Are God Alone.

Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/

Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd

Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at:
https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/
____________________________________________________________________________________
Connect with Vince socially:
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller