Friday, January 24 Luke 16:1-9 SHREWDNESS AND THE FUTURE I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” Luke 16:9, NIV In today’s text, a different kind of giving was typified by a manager who wanted to secure his future. The manager’s action in the light of James 3:17-18 is a reflection of worldly wisdom. That is why Jesus called him a shrewd (dishonest) manager (v. 8a). Unknown to the manager, his master had heard of his secret deals (v. 8; Luke 8:17). We should note that verse 8 was not Jesus’ comment, but the manager’s master’s comment. So, we should not mistake it to mean that God wants us to be shrewd. God is simply teaching us to use our worldly wealth (worldly endowments) to gain friends for ourselves (v. 9). Your worldly wealth comprises the resources at your disposal on earth. The resources include money, talent, academic intelligence, position and even physical strength. Therefore, you should think of ways by which you can use them to bless people. You have to be liberal, kind, helpful, committed, faithful, and so on. Start today so that when the endowments are gone, you will be welcomed into your eternal dwellings (v. 9b). No condition, they say, is permanent! If you are wealthy today, you don’t know what could happen tomorrow. So, invest some of your wealth into somebody’s life today; that may be the saving grace for your future. • Birthday Blessing: “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you”- Genesis 12:2 Read Bible Through Passage: Exodus 6, 7; Matthew 16 There are many who are lip-servants but not life-servants. - William Jenkyn
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 08:35:30 +0000