You hold the power of stewardship in your family now, and also for generations to come. Let’s look at what the power of stewardship means in this excerpt from our upcoming book, “A Legacy Life.”

A Parable of Stewardship

There’s a powerful parable I heard years ago. It’s the story of a man in Japan who walked to work every day. And every day, he passed by a field where a farmer was clearing rocks from the field. The farmer picked, he dug, and then he carried the rocks to the side of the field. Every day, every season, the routine was the same.

Finally, the man grew curious. Why did the farmer never plant a crop? Why did he only carry rocks to the side of the field?

He stopped the farmer in the midst of his work. He repeated his thoughts: “Every day, I walk to work, and I walk by this field. Every day, I
see you do the same thing. You pick, you dig, and you carry rocks to the side of the field. Why do you never plant a crop?”

The farmer smiled patiently and responded, “I’m preparing this field for my grandchildren.”

The Power of Stewardship: A Biblical Mindset

This principle of stewardship is not a business principle. It’s a biblical principle. When you look at the life of Abraham, he is promised a land, a people, and to be a blessing to the world in Genesis 12.

But there’s one problem. He doesn’t have a son, so how can the blessing take place? Abraham waits twenty-five years before he gets a son—to the point that the promise seems unbelievable. Beyond that, Abraham never does get the land.

In fact, God tells him that his descendants will go down to Egypt and be in slavery for four hundred years. Then, after four hundred years, they will come back and take the land. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d want to wait for 400 years to occupy the land you’ve been promised.

And the last promise to Abraham—to be a blessing to the world? Well, in Matthew 1:17, we are told:

“Thus, there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.”

If you are doing the math, that’s forty-two generations before the promise of the blessing to the world gets fulfilled.

The Legacy of Stewardship

Let’s pause for a moment. While we tend to skip genealogies in the Bible, God is careful to record them. In fact, if you flip back to Genesis, you’ll see a similar precision. In Genesis 5, there are ten generations from Adam to Noah. There are another ten generations from Noah to Abraham in Genesis 11. There are sixty-two generations from Adam to Christ.

Why are all these generations important? Through this seemingly irrelevant data point around genealogy, God demonstrates the relentless
drumbeat of a central theme. Time and time again, over and over, he reminds us:

“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

He authors only one story, and that story’s theme is marked by His great love and mercy towards us. In that one story, he is always pointing us towards restoration and redemption in Christ.

We are just part of that story. We are not our own story; we are part of that one.

In the Lord’s careful way, he is reminding us,

“Don’t think short-term. Think long-term. Think of the long tomorrow.”

This generational view cuts against how we think of long-term planning in our world today.

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If you enjoyed this excerpt, keep reading about how you can help launch “The Legacy Life” this fall.

The Legacy Life

You are the hero of your family’s legacy story, and you need a guide to help you write that story.

Now it’s here in two formats:

The Legacy Life and The Legacy Life Devotional are available for preorder now!

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Build a legacy that lasts with these books, and learn how to get the audio version for free HERE.

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Bill High

Bill is CEO & Founder of Vyne Legacy. He works with families to equip them with tools to build multigenerational legacies, and he teaches givers and financial advisers on transformational biblical generosity. He is the co-author with David Green of Giving It All Away and Getting It All Back Again: The Way of Living Generously.

Published July 23, 2025

Topics: Family Legacy

stewardship