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The following news item appeared in the Associated Press last week:

"A mailman who hoarded thousands of letters and parcels at his home was jailed for four months on Friday. Christopher Meek, 19, admitted hoarding 13,819 postal items, saying he had taken them home because his mailbag was too heavy for him to carry.

"He was arrested in December after the Royal Mail received complaints from people who had not received Christmas gifts sent through the mail....Meek opened more than 1,400 of the items and stole the contents, including compact disks and DVDs, jewelry and gift vouchers.

"Meek's lawyer, Peter Thubron, said his client ” who is short and slight ” had struggled to carry his mailbag and had taken the mail items home to deliver later but then let the situation get out of control."

The thought of a mailman taking letters and packages home for his own use is appalling to us. He has no right. They don't belong to him! To use a biblical term, a mailman is a steward -- he is someone who is given the responsibility of taking care of something that belongs to someone else. And Paul tells us what the most important trait of a steward is -- "Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful." (I Cor. 4:2).

Before we get too outraged, perhaps we need to reflect on the fact that we are all stewards. Everything that we have in our possession is not really ours. It belongs to God and He has given it to us to take care of for him. God intends for us to use what we have -- our money and possessions -- to help those who are in need, to further His work, to allow His glory to shine.

How often have we, instead, carried God's blessings home, opened them up and selfishly used them for our own pleasure? A mailman who does that would be fired (and imprisoned). Let us develop a mindset not of ownership, but of stewardship. Our job (like that of the mailman) is simply to deliver God's possessions to where He wants them to be used.

"And the Lord said, 'Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes." (Luke 12:42-43)