“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Luke 16:9 (ESV)
God has entrusted you with and has declared you a manager of all things on this earth. Did you know you were a manager for God? When we give our lives to God, we are to manage the gifts He gives us.
In Luke 16:1-9 Jesus tells the parable of the dishonest manager. This manager was not taking care of his master’s possessions and when called on it, he ran away to secure a life for himself instead of repenting. We can secure a life here on earth yet what are we doing to secure our eternal life?
In this parable Jesus is telling us that money is a gift from God. We are to use it according to His will, not for our own selfish purposes or to benefit ourselves. We do not make friends with God’s gifts to secure our life here on earth; we make friends with God’s gifts to secure our treasures in heaven. We use money to bring all praise and glory to Him, not to ourselves. God owns everything. We are just the stewards or the managers here on earth.
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 16:10-13, ESV)
There are so many important points of this parable. First, Jesus tells us that if you are unfaithful in the little things in life, you will be unfaithful with the big things. Second, Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters. Money is a master that all too many serve. You cannot serve God and make money number one in your life. Money like all other things we have been blessed with belongs to God, not to us. It is not up to us to determine how it will be spent yet it is to be prayed upon so we may be led by His Holy Spirit as to how it will be used to bring praise and glory to His mighty name.
Heavenly Father, we pray today that with all things that You have blessed us with in this life that we would use them to bring praise and glory to Your name. That we would seek You and Your will with all things. We thank You and praise You. Lead us by your Holy Spirit and let our hearts, souls, and minds be open to receive your Living Word in our live. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Questions: Are you using your gifts to bring glory to God or to yourself?
by Rev. Daniel Forster
used by permission
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