Open Hands: Living as Stewards, Not Owners

Elijah Rivers

[calm] Welcome to the show. Marcus, I want to begin with Psalm 24:1, full and plain: “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” [pauses] That is not a gentle suggestion. It is a direct claim. The earth is the LORD’s. The fullness thereof. The world -- and the people in it. So before we say my house, my money, my body, my time, Scripture speaks first and says, no, not finally. His.

Marcus Jordan

[curious] That phrase “the fullness thereof” sticks with me. Not just the dirt, not just the oceans -- the FULLNESS. So, the crops, the cities, the bank accounts, the phones buzzing in our pockets... all of it falls under that one word: the Lord’s.

Elijah Rivers

Exactly. And that creates a tension our hearts feel right away, because we live in a world trained to say mine. My schedule. My weekend. My career path. My plans. But if God owns “the world and those who dwell therein,” then our control is always borrowed, never absolute. We are not owners in the final sense. We are stewards.

Marcus Jordan

[reflective] Borrowed control... yeah, that lands. For me it hits hardest with my calendar. I can get weirdly protective over a Tuesday afternoon like I forged time itself in a factory. [chuckles] Somebody asks for help, or life interrupts my plan, and I feel this flash of, hold on, that’s MINE. And that little reaction tells on me.

Elijah Rivers

[warmly] It does tell on us. For some it is the paycheck. For others the home, the garden, the body, the phone that carries our attention all day long. The question is not whether we manage these things. We must. The question is whether we manage them as possessors or as servants. One posture clenches the fist. The other opens the hand.

Marcus Jordan

So the searching question for today becomes... if this day is not mine in the first place, what changes when I stop asking, “What do I want to do with this?” and start asking, “What would the Owner have me do with it?”

Elijah Rivers

[softly] And that is a reverent question, because it puts us back in the right place. Not beneath a tyrant, but before our Maker.

Elijah Rivers

[matter-of-fact] Colossians 1 takes this even deeper. Paul says of Christ, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible... whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” That is sweeping language. Visible and invisible. Earth and heaven. Even thrones and rulers are not outside his authority.

Marcus Jordan

[skeptical] I want to grab that word “thrones.” Because Paul could’ve just said all things and moved on. But he names “thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities.” That sounds like power structures -- the stuff people are most tempted to think answers to nobody.

Elijah Rivers

Yes. Paul is cutting beneath every illusion of independence. The powers men fear, chase, build, and bow to -- they did not create themselves, and they do not exist for themselves. They were created through Christ and FOR Christ. So stewardship is bigger than recycling or balancing a budget. It is worship under rightful lordship.

Marcus Jordan

[pauses] “For him” is the part that searches me. Not just from him. FOR him. So my work is not ultimately for my image. My money is not ultimately for my comfort. Even my abilities are not little private kingdoms.

Elijah Rivers

And then verse 17 gives us one of the most stunning lines in all of Scripture: “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” -- or, as many of us learned it, “in him all things hold together.” Not only did Christ make the world; he sustains it moment by moment.

Marcus Jordan

[quietly] “Hold together.” I mean, that’s breath in your lungs. Food growing out of soil. Seasons arriving on time. Gravity doing its job so we don’t fly off into space. The fact that the world didn’t come unstitched overnight is not luck. That quiet faithfulness is God.

Elijah Rivers

Amen. Which means gratitude and humility are not add-ons to the Christian life. They are the sane response to reality.

Marcus Jordan

[reflective] Okay, so let’s bring that down to April 22, to the ordinary details. Because modern life can make you feel like peace depends on your ability to hold every thread at once -- bills, deadlines, groceries, texts, plans, work. And when you start thinking like an owner, everything becomes heavy. If I’m the source, if I’m the sustainer, if this whole machine runs on me... man, no wonder people are anxious.

Elijah Rivers

That is well said. And the answer is not irresponsibility. Stewardship is deeply practical. It means using money carefully because it is entrusted, not worshiped. It means wasting less food because daily bread is a gift, not a disposable right. It means handling time without panic -- planning, yes, but without acting as though one disrupted plan can overthrow God’s rule. And it means treating work as service, not self-creation.

Marcus Jordan

I like that phrase “self-creation.” [questioning tone] Because a lot of us treat work like it’s how we build a self that can finally stand up and say, now I matter. But if Christ is already Lord, work becomes service instead of a desperate identity project.

Elijah Rivers

Precisely. Stewardship is not scarcity thinking. It is not living pinched and afraid. It is freedom from pretending we are the source and sustainer of our lives. The owner is generous. The steward can be faithful without being frantic.

Marcus Jordan

So here’s one concrete move for today -- just one. Choose one thing to surrender deliberately. Maybe it’s a purchase you were about to make. Maybe it’s an attitude about your schedule. Maybe it’s a plan you’re gripping too hard. Just stop and say, “Lord, this is Yours before it is mine.”

Elijah Rivers

[warmly] A small act, but a memorable one. One surrendered thing can expose how many things we’ve been clutching.

Elijah Rivers

[reflective] So here is the question I want to leave hanging in the air: if everything belongs to Christ, and if all things are held together in him, what would it look like for you to live today with truly open hands? [short pause] Let me pray. Lord, the earth is Yours, and so are we. Give us grateful hearts for what we receive, humble hearts in what we manage, and wise hearts in how we use our time, our money, our strength, and our work. Keep us from pride, from fear, and from the illusion that we hold what only You can hold. Teach us faithfulness, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Marcus Jordan

[softly] Amen. And friend, if you’re tired from carrying everything like it all depends on you, hear this clearly: the burden of ownership is heavy. It was never meant for your shoulders. The grace of stewardship is lighter, because God never asks you to carry what only he can hold. Walk with open hands today. We’ll see you next time.