Luke16:1-12 The Shrewd Manager
"1 Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a servant who managed his property. The rich man was told that the manager was wasting his master's money, 2 so he called him in and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in a complete account of your handling of my property, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ 3 The servant said to himself, ‘My master is going to dismiss me from my job. What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.’ 5 So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 ‘One hundred barrels of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him; ‘sit down and write fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another one, ‘And you—how much do you owe?’ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him; ‘write eight hundred.’ 8 As a result the master of this dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light.” 9 And Jesus went on to say, “And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home. 10 Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. 11 If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?"
My View: The way I see things, may or may not be correct. If we can be trusted with small things then God will use us to do bigger things. The way we use money can be good test of where we place Christ in our lives.
1. All the money we have does not belong to us. My account may read, Michelle and David Morgan, but it really belongs to Christ; we are called to use our resources wisely.
2. We have the choice how we use our money. We can use it for good or for evil. I can use my resources to help buy school clothes for a family in need, or groceries for the widow down the street and that is using my money for good. In the last few months many of you and perfect strangers gave donations of money, time or material goods to help pay some of the medical expenses of my grandson's doctor bills, that is an example of using money for good. I am forever thankful.
3. People with lots of money have great power, LET US USE IT CAREFULLY AND THOUGHTFULLY. We must use our material goods in a way that will foster faith and obedience. We are to make wise use of the financial opportunities we have, not to earn a place in haven but to help people find Christ. If we use our money to help those in need or to help others find Christ, our earthly investment will bring eternal benefit. When we obey God’s will, the unselfish use of possessions will follow. Our Integrity is often put on the line in money matters. See that you maintain your integrity in all. God calls us to be honest even in small details we could easily ignore. Heavens riches are for more valuable than earthly wealth . But if we are not trustworthy with our money here [no matter how much or how little we have], we will be unfit to handle the vast riches of God's Kingdom. We are called to maintain integrity in all maters, whether big or small, not just with money but with our time and resources.
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