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
Stewarding Public Land and Local Assets
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 claim that unsettles every possessive instinct: 'The land is mine.' Israel may receive, cultivate, buy, sell, and inherit, but never as absolute owners. They are sojourners with God. Even loss is not allowed to become endless; redemption is written into the life of the land.
Paul gives the Church a matching word: stewards. What is entrusted is not ours to treat as private spoil. Faithfulness is the measure. That matters wherever land, buildings, water, parks, high streets, and local assets are held for more than one generation.
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Ethical stewardship of local resources begins when a place is received as gift rather than quarry. A playing field, a library, a town hall, a brownfield site, a river path, a row of shops: none is holy in itself, yet each can carry neighbourly possibility. Such things can be neglected, sold too cheaply, hoarded by the powerful, or tended for common life. Lord, teach us to be faithful tenants in your world. Give patience and courage to those making decisions about land and local assets. Keep communities from short memories and hurried bargains, and help us ask what will still bless our neighbours when we are gone.
Prayer Points
Respond- Lord, remind us that land and place belong first to you.
- Give faithfulness to those responsible for parks, libraries, streets, water, buildings, and public land.
- Protect communities from decisions that trade long-term blessing for short-term gain.
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- Teach restraint where greed would take more than love can justify.
- Make the Church a patient witness to stewardship, memory, and hope.