Old Testament
Leviticus 25:23-24
23 “‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
24 In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
Common Good
Ethical Stewardship of Natural Resources
Scripture References
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1 Corinthians 4:1-2
1 So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries.
2 Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
Thought for the Day
Leviticus makes a startling claim: the land is not finally ours. ‘The land is mine,’ the LORD says, and we are tenants and sojourners with him. Property and inheritance are placed under a deeper ownership, and redemption is built into the story so that loss does not become permanent despair.
Paul uses a household word for leadership: stewards. An οἰκονόμος is a house-manager, entrusted with what belongs to another. The measure is not brilliance but faithfulness, and faithfulness is never merely private.
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Ethical stewardship of natural resources begins here: with humility. We do not possess the earth as masters; we hold it as entrusted. Jubilee teaches limits: no permanent dispossession, no absolute claim. Faithfulness asks, not ‘what can we take’, but ‘what will we return’. Stewardship is accountability with a horizon: God will ask what we did with what was his.
Lord, teach us to live as grateful tenants in your world. Give wisdom to governments and industries handling land, minerals, forests, and seas. Make your Church faithful in small choices, and courageous in seeking the good of those most harmed by misuse, for the sake of those who come after us. Teach us to count faithfulness more precious than profit.
Prayer Points
Respond- Lord, remind us that the earth is yours, and we are entrusted with it.
- Give faithfulness to those managing land, water, and mineral wealth.
- Protect communities displaced or harmed by irresponsible extraction.
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- Teach us restraint where greed would demand ‘more’.
- Make the Church a truthful witness of stewardship and hope.