Because everything belongs to the Lord including what you have, all you own is responsibility. This is the fourth implication of this truth. A farmer once congratulated another farmer on the farm he had bought. The response of the farmer who bought the land was remarkable. He said,
“You are mistaken. I did not buy more land. All I bought was more responsibility. The land still belongs to the Lord!” (Read Leviticus 25:23.) What a truly Biblical answer! Everything belongs to the Lord including what I own. You and I are responsible for managing what belongs to Him according to His instructions.
Farmers should be able to understand this because many things work like that on a farm. You ask the person fixing the fence, “Where are your pliers?” You ask the pruners, “Are your pruning-shears still in order?” You tell the tractor driver, “See to it that your tractor is clean before you put it away.” These people do not own the pliers, pruning-shears or tractor. It is just a figure of speech. You are really asking, “Where are the pliers you are responsible for?” “Are you treating the vehicle entrusted to you with respect?”
God entrusted all of creation to us, His representatives. (Genesis 1:27-28) God blessed people by enabling them to fulfil this great responsibility. You
are God’s representative and He entrusted the land on which you farm to you. What a privilege! It is an even greater responsibility than a privilege.
How responsible are you with everything He has put in your care? List everything you have: farms and/or land, vehicles, equipment, livestock,
fields, orchards, houses, sheds and granaries, investments, insurance policies, furniture, guns, clothes, bicycles, tools and everything else. Now write across it in red ink: My responsibility. I must manage all of this on behalf of the Lord. He has entrusted it all to me.
Everything belongs to the Lord including what you have. This means you are only responsible for managing His property. You are only a steward.