Okay, so stewardship is not the greatest thing in the world to talk about. It is however important in the life of a Christian, as it speaks so loudly about our faith. As I post the next part of the study (part 3) it occurs to me we don't often even address it on a personal level when we discuss it. The tendency is to point to someone or someplace other than ourselves.
As you move through this next portion try relating it to yourself. Put your name in the places where it asks us questions, put your life into the story where there are examples, become the question. Enough from me here is what Herb Miller has to say. WaynO

Bible Study/Discussion Possibilities
1. Matthew 19: 16-24 (the rich young ruler talks with Jesus)
2. Luke 20:19-26 (render what is appropriate to Caesar and to God)

Discovery Questions for Group Study
1. Do you think it is true that everyone has a deep yearning for meaning and purpose? Or is this need found only among high achievers who have unusual talents for bettering the world? Illustrate your opinion.
2. Have you known people who came to a turning point in their life where they seemed to be asking the same kind of question about how to find meaning and purpose that the rich young ruler asked? If so did their experience take the form of a "mid-life crisis." or did it seem more like what most people experience at the time of their initial conversion to Christ?

III Look Out for Number One
In his book. When All You 've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough. Harold Kushner tells about going to the funeral of a man his own age. He had not known the deceased well, but they had worked together and talk occasionally. They had children the same age. Two weeks after the funeral, it was as if the man's life had been a rock thrown into a pond, sending ripples for a moment, then gone. Someone else replaced him at the office, and the work went on. Kushner said that he could not sleep well for days afterward. He kept thinking that this would happen to him. He kept asking himself. "Shouldn't a person's life mean more than this?"'"1
Most of us. sooner or later, ask similar questions: "Am I worth anything? Docs my life have any lasting purpose and meaning? Most of us have an urge toward achievement. Most of us would like to make a positive impact on the lives of other people and on our world. If we do not feel that this is in some way happening, we tend to experience a sense of emptiness, low self-worth, futility, and sometimes even depression. The little card that came with a tiny sample vial advertising a new brand of aftershave lotion said. "Discover perfect harmony, fullness, and clarity."' Advertising agencies, knowing of our deep hunger for a meaningful existence, sell us everything from houses to soft drinks by touching that nerve.
Paul Tillich. in The Courage to Be. says that three different kinds of anxiety have predominated in different eras of history. In ancient civilizations, the chief anxiety was about fate and death. From that time through the Middle Ages, the primary anxiety was about guilt and condemnation. Now our anxieties center on emptiness and meaninglessness. Tillich may be right in broad terms, but the evidence indicates that emptiness anxiety is not totally new. That appears to be precisely the question a young man raised with Jesus 2000 years ago. He was religious. He was successful. He had wealth. But is that all there is? Isn't there something more'.'
Jesus answered the young man's question in a way that challenged his basic assumptions about how to find meaning and purpose: "If you wish to be perfect, go. sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: then come. follow me" (Matthew 19:21). Jesus's answer applies equally well to each of us. Our yearning for fulfillment and wholeness cannot be achieved in the way we expect. A sense of meaning, purpose, and peace is imperative. Yet we do not find it by setting sail toward the goal of meaning, purpose, and peace. We find it by doing God's will for our life.
No instinct is more natural than looking out for number one. but we easily become confused about who number one is. The real number one is God. We take care of ourselves best when we focus on God and God's will as number one. rather than by focusing on ourselves. That is why Jesus said, "...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). Wealth can influence us to inaccurately identify number one and thus misdirect our energies and commitments.
The question Jesus posed so graphically in his adv ice to the rich young ruler is one that each of us asks every day of our lives: Will I try to achieve meaning, purpose, and peace through managing my money well, or through, doing God's will for my life? As we answer that question, each of us tends to both believe and resist believing what Jesus indicated was the only rational choice. On one hand, we see that Jesus is right. On the other hand, we are constantly tempted to think and behave as if Jesus missed the turn on this issue. We feel constantly pressured to try to attain a sense of purpose and meaning by methods that do not work, while overlooking altogether the only method that does work.