Stewardship of Assets
Example of Caring for Tools and Machinery
My own father owned a 360-acre grain and hog farm in Nebraska USA and he was noted for taking good care of his machinery. He housed his machinery inside a machine shed to keep that machinery protected from the elements. He even would wax his tractors and combine to protect the painted surfaces from being faded by UV light. He would change the oil and do maintenance on a regular basis to prolong the engine and extend the serviced life of his machines. In fact, he would have implement-dealers (who sell machinery) call him up and ask if he had anything machinery he wanted to sell because his used machines were so well-taken care of that they were in “like-new” condition and would sell for a high-price.
This is an example of how taking care of tools or machinery is worth money when it comes time to sell or upgrade. If a boy is taught how to keep his tools or machinery in good condition then it can be worth a lot of money for him in the future when it comes time for him to sell them or upgrade.
I have known people who neglect and abused their machinery and tools so badly that these things looked as if they were decades older than our tools (which were purchased long before those which were abused by others). Such abused equipment was so devalued by their poor condition that the selling price was reduced to the cost of the weight of the salvage metal contained in these degraded items. Again, taking care of tools and machinery is an essential lesson to teach boys because these tools can make a living for them later in life and help the feed their families.
Biblical Mandate to Care For Essential Things
Proverbs 12:10 (NASB95)
10 A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
The fact of the matter is that a righteous man (one who follows biblical precedent) will operate as a good steward over everything that God has blessed him with. This includes any type of asset including livestock, machinery, tools, equipment, and anything else that can create a livelihood or income for his family. The scripture above says that a righteous man has regard for the life his is animal and the reason for this is that he can see the value of livestock to produce a living for him. A dairy cow can produce a continual income of milk and yoghurt and cheese for his family. Sheep can produce both meat and wool for his family and goats also produce meat and milk. Chickens can produce both eggs and meat for this farmer. It is in the best interests of any farmer or livestock rancher to take care of his livestock because his livestock produce a livelihood for the farmer and his family.
Proverbs 14:4 (NASB95)
4 Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.
Another asset for the farmer during biblical times was having oxen for agricultural production. The scripture above says that where there is no oxen the manger is clean. So the farmer would not have to clean all the manure produced by keeping some oxen if he has none of them. But there is much revenue gained by the strength of the ox so this equates to the fact that owning oxen cost money and labor and maintenance to feed them but the increase produced by the oxen is greater than the cost of owning them (so therefore it is worth owning oxen). It is for the benefit of the farmer to purchase and keep oxen because they could produce more money than it costs to buy and own them.
Oxen are assets that can produce revenue but in fact it requires money to feed the ox and labor to clean the stall. But the expense of caring for the ox is worth it because they multiply work greatly. A farmer can plant many times more acres with an ox than by working by hand. So therefore the revenue produced by an ox far exceeds the expense of owning it. This same principle also applies to owning a truck or tractor or combine or other machines that cost money to buy and keep but the same assets greatly increase production and therefore increase revenue income. As long as an asset produces more than what it costs then this creates a net income for the owner.
Jewish Family Owned More Oxen to Increase Wealth
1 Kings 19:19 (NASB95)
19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.
The Jewish family of Elisha were farmers and the father of Elisha (named Shaphat) owned 24-oxen at the time when Elijah first met Elisha and appointed him to be his successor. Elisha was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen so this meant that Elisha was the head of the plowing crews. His family owned twenty-four oxen and had twelve-plows and had a crew of people to run these twelve plows. According to biblical principle Shaphat the owner knew that the income produced by owning twenty-four oxen and a dozen plows and hiring a crew to operate these plows was worth the investment. The income produced by owning these assets exceeded the cost of the oxen and the plows and the maintenance to keep the oxen and the cost to hire the human labor to operate them. The Jewish principle handed down from Abraham states that there is much increase by the strength of an ox so owning the oxen is worth the expense of purchasing them and feeding them.
Jewish Principles of Increase
Genesis 26:12–14 (NASB95)
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,
13 and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy;
14 for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.
God taught Abraham the principles of increase and Abraham taught his son Isaac and Isaac taught Jacob who also taught is twelve-sons so that the knowledge of God passed to the twelve tribes of Israel. The entire nation of Israel (comprising twelve-tribes) all operated by the knowledge of God given to their forefather Abraham (by God).
It is evident that Isaac was applying this wisdom of God passed onto him by his own father Abraham. Isaac was blessed by God with a hundredfold increase. This means that he harvested a hundred times more than he had planted and received more income than what he spent on this farming operation.
The man Isaac became rich and continued to grow richer until be became very wealthy and owned great possessions of flocks and herds and a great household so that even the Philistines envied his wealth. This is amazing because Isaac was living in the land of the Philistines and prospering there even when the Philistines living in the same land were not prospering. This is because Isaac was following God-inspired principles (which are today Jewish principles) which the Jewish people now live by.
Isaac Increased His Tillage Annually
This can be seen in the fact that Isaac was increasing his tillage annually. When he harvested a large volume of grain, then this provided Isaac with income from grain sales. With the increased income Isaac would purchase more oxen and purchase more plows and hire more workers so that he could plant more hectares of land every year. In this manner, Isaac was increasing the amount of land he tilled every year and thus he had increased harvests every year that were greater than the increase he had gained from previous years. This is how Isaac increased more and more every year and increased in wealth annually until he became hugely wealthy with great numbers of livestock and a huge household of many workers and their families (who also earned a living by working for Isaac).
Jacob Increased Exceedingly Following Jewish Principles of Increase
Genesis 31:38 (NASB95)
38 “These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks.
Jacob worked as a laboring man for wages under his father-in-law Laban for twenty years. Jacob was faithful and he did not eat even the rams of Laban’s flocks and took nothing without permission. This mention of “not eating the rams” is significant in Jewish culture because God taught Abraham about the laws of seedtime and harvest. These laws apply to everything including livestock. It is for this reason that Jewish people would not eat female livestock but instead saved females for reproduction knowing that they could produce more offspring to increase the size of the flocks. The only animals that they could eat were the excess rams (male livestock) because they only needed to keep a few good rams for breeding purposes. Other rams could be eaten or sold for meat so only rams were eaten by Jewish people.
But Jacob was faithful and honest and did not eat Laban’s rams (which were the only livestock that Jewish people could eat). The biblical principle to see here is that assets were preserved which could bring increase. The oxen were purchased and fed because they brought great increase by plowing more acres every year. The more oxen and more plows and more workers they had the more they could expand farming operations and increase income. The more that was planted the more that is harvested and that increases wealth. So every year the Jewish people always saved seed for planting more acres of land. They always saved money to buy more oxen and saved money to buy more plows and to hire more workers to run the plows. They were constantly reinvesting their income into assets in order to increase their income more every year. See the category “Jewish Topics” under the link “Parable of the Goat and the Mother’s Milk” for more details.
Jacob used the Law of Faith
Genesis 30:41–43 (NASB95)
41 Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods;
42 but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so, the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.
43 So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.
Jacob followed the same principles that is grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac also followed and these Jewish principles (received from God) caused them all to prosper. Jacob used faith to envision his increase of wages and he became exceedingly prosperous and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys. Jacob also owned “beasts of burden” which are “working-livestock” used to carry loads and for plowing fields. Jacob also hired many workers so this his household grew exceedingly large and prosperous. He did not eat female livestock and always reinvested his income so that his wealth would grow more every year. According to Jewish principles, he separated finances from his living expenses from those finances that were for investments. He did not foolishly eat all of his seed or spend all of his income but always saved seed for sowing and saved money for investments and this resulted in his wealth increasing more every year.
These principles still work today because the Jewish people are less than 6% of the population of the United States but they have over 67% of the fortune-500 companies (which are Jewish owned businesses). This is a “disproportionate” number of Jewish people being hugely wealthy and owning more than half of the top 500-most prosperous companies found in the USA. The Jewish people follow the biblical principles God gave to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob whose lineage make up the Jewish race.
These principles will work for anyone who will apply them because God is no respecter of persons but treats all equally according to the merit of their actions. If anyone will follow these principles they will prosper the same as the Jewish people prosper who follow the same principles. Again see the link “Jewish Topics” for more details.
Stewardship of Assets is a Fundamental Jewish Principle
John 6:12 (NIV)
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
Jesus (or Yeshua) was Jewish and born of Jewish parents and he also displayed good stewardship when he told his disciples to pick up the left-over food (after he supernaturally fed over 5,000-men and their families). “Let nothing be wasted” is a Jewish principle because if they let things go to waste that is something that equates to a loss.
My own father would rebuke his children if they were dragging their shoes on the ground when walking and tell them to lift up their feet when walking. This is about good stewardship because if the children abuse their shoes in careless manner then they will be destroyed in a short-time and have to be replaced prematurely. Replacing shoes costs money and if you have five-children and they all destroy their shoes by foolish abuse then this can add up to a lot of money.
According to Jewish principle therefore, they do not purposely destroy things out of neglect or ignorant abuse by ignorantly ruining things that could have a much longer lifespan if taken care of properly. This is good stewardship and this is a Jewish principle. Jewish people understand that money is an investment but if they spend money to replace things that are being destroyed by ignorant behavior then that is less money they have to invest. This type of thing can add up to a lot of money because if children are undisciplined and destroy everything their parents give to them then this results in causing poverty in the long -term. Spoiled children can ruin things prematurely can cost their family large sums of money and reduce their investments and decrease their family income so that instead of increasing annually they are decreasing more every year (becoming poorer)!
Children who break and destroy things must be disciplined to stop this wasteful behavior. Being wasteful is similar to pouring money on the ground (like dry-sand that flows through holes in their pockets). Stopping wasteful behavior is stopping financial loss and is essential for people to prosper in the future. This is called good stewardship of finances.
This principle of stewardship relates to machinery and tools as well because we personally know people who were undisciplined in their childhood and grew up to be great wasters as adults. These wasteful people destroy everything that they touch and their machinery and equipment soon looks like “junk” because they abuse it and neglect it continually. It costs money to replace everything that they destroy and this decreases their overall annual income.
I have even seen employees who were raised by divorced single-parent working mothers and these boys grew up to be great wasters because they had no father figure to discipline them in their youth. They can buy something brand-new and destroy it within a few days (even crashing expensive new vehicles by wild and erratic and careless driving). Such wasteful young men also destroy company trucks and tools and break everything they touch. Hiring such men is a big mistake and it costs the company much more in damages than what these people preform in useful labor.
A father must discipline his son while he is yet young and teach him the value of assets (like tools and machinery) and teach him how to care for these things. If a boy is taught to care for his tools and machinery they can last for many years of useful service and can even be sold for a high price if he needs to upgrade. Wasteful people destroy everything they touch and they are “money-holes” for this reason (just draining away finances and costing money every day they are present).
Wasteful People are Destroyers
Proverbs 28:24 (NKJV)
24 Whoever robs his father or his mother, And says, “It is no transgression,” The same is companion to a destroyer.
An undisciplined son will destroy everything that he touches. Unless a father disciplines a wasteful son then that son will grow up to become a “destroyer” who destroys his own possessions at home by neglect and abuse as well as destroying the assets of any employer by his careless neglect and abuse. He will destroy vehicles and equipment and tools because a “destroyer” will always follow his own defective and wasteful character.
The scripture above says that whoever robs his father or mothers and says “It is no transgression” is the same as one who is a companion to a destroyer. The fact remains that the parents pay for the clothing and food and everything that their son has, so if he wastes these things and destroys them then he is robbing his parents who paid for these things. Such a wayward boy who sees nothing wrong with destroying everything he is given will grow up to be a destroyer in adult life. There are numerous people raised in broken-homes that ruin and destroy and devalue and deface every possession that they get their hands on. These wasteful people will destroy every asset they own (which could have made them money). They are made poor by their bad behavior of continually destroying everything they touch by their own neglect and abuse.
I had cousins who were raised in an undisciplined manner and their parents spent a lot of money giving them presents on the Christmas holiday. But these wasteful kids broke every toy they received on the same night they got it. In our household however we were trained to take care of things and I had toys I received as a young boy that lasted decades and were still in good condition when my nephews played with them many years later. The only difference was that boys trained to respect property and take care of things will not break everything or ruin it by neglect or abuse. This has a big effect upon whether a boy will grow up to be continually poor (as a waster and destroyer) or if he will increase in prosperity year by year because he was trained to respect property and care for things and make them last longer.
Children Who Rob Parents
Those who are undisciplined as children and grow up to be wasters and destroyers are those who have never seen the fact that they were robbing their parents by destroying everything they were given as children.
Some wise families (like those of the late John Rockefeller) disciplined their children and taught them to respect money and be good stewards of the things they possessed. The sons of John Rockefeller had to work a job and earn their own money before they were allowed to manage the Rockefeller fortune. Working for their own money caused these rich kids to respect money because they discovered how hard they had to work to earn each dollar they received. So after they learned to respect money, then they did not waste it and later when they could be trusted then they were given responsibility to manage the Rockefeller estate as adults. These children were not spoiled by giving them everything they wanted as children and they were not allowed to just rob their parents (by carelessly destroying everything they got their hands on as spoiled children do).
The stewardship of assets is a biblical principle given by God to the Jewish people and it is part of Jewish culture not to be wasteful (just as the Jewish Messiah Yeshua was not wasteful when he said, “Pick up the leftovers so nothing be wasted!” Dry leftover bread for example can be made into French toast and having this as one meal enables someone to keep from spending more money on eating something else. The principle of “Money Saved is Money Earned” is a Jewish principle that nothing should be wasted. The Jewish people lived a “frugal” lifestyle and took care of their possessions and did not destroy everything by neglect or abuse. They knew it cost hard-earned money to replace things and any money spent on unnecessary replacements was money that could not be invested to make more money.
All of these items that are lost due to abuse or neglect can add up financially. So if a child wastes food and throws it away or he destroys his shoes or clothing by needless abuse or if he breaks things in careless manner, then he is a waster and he is robbing his parents who had to pay for these things by forcing his parents to work and too buy new ones again. If such a boy is not disciplined he will grow up to be a “destroyer” as an adult and he will suppose this destructive behavior is normal. No person who is a waster and destroyer will ever prosper. There are spoiled children who inherited millions of dollars who lost it all in a short-time, only because they wasted it as fast as they could and never invested in anything.
Proverbs 19:18 (NLT)
18 Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.
If a father loves his son he will discipline in promptly and not allow him to develop the bad character of being a waster and a destroyer. Such a wasteful boy will live in poverty and always be broke even if he should win the lotto or receive a large inheritance because he will waste everything he gets his hands on. If a father does not discipline his son when he is young then the end result is that their lives will be ruined as adults.
Proverbs 13:18 (NIV)
18 Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.
If a wayward child resists his father’s discipline then he will grow up to become a waster and a destroyer. No waster or destroyer will ever prosper. Such a undisciplined child will come to poverty and shame and ruin everything he has and lose whatever he is given. But disciplined boys will follow Jewish principles and they will have honor when they increase more and more every year by following biblical principles.
It is the job of the father to discipline his sons and to teach them biblical principles so that they will be good and hardworking and frugal citizens who are a good steward of the things God has blessed them with. If they are wasteful and destroy everything they have then God will not bless them anymore since they do not care for what God has already given them in the past.