READ THIS: Luke 16:1-12
1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?
This parable teaches us an important lesson that we have seeing throughout Luke: the things of this world are far less valuable than heaven! In this parable, Jesus tells the people about a man whose job is managing the finances of a very rich man. There's only one problem... he's not very good at his job, so he's going to be fired soon! When he hears this news, the manager comes up with a clever idea. He decides to go to all of the people that owe his boss, the rich man, a lot of things or a lot of money, and he gives them a discount on how much they owe him! So if someone owed this man $1000, he essentially changed their deal so they only owed him $800... but why? The manager knew that he was going to be fired, and he knew that if these other people would see him as a kind person, that they would treat him well and help him out once he lost his job. The interesting part of this is verse 8: the rich man actually finds what the manager has done to be impressive, not wrong!
So what's Jesus saying here... lying and cheating people out of money is okay? NO, of course not! Jesus is actually giving us two big lessons. The first is what we see clearly in verses 8-9: we should be using every bit of our worldly wealth to prepare us for our life in heaven! Why hold onto things selfishly like money or possessions when they will all be gone when we get to heaven, right? But the other lesson here is just as important: people who are honest with a little will be honest with a lot... and people who are dishonest with a little (the manager with the money) will be dishonest with a lot (the manager making cheap deals to improve himself). Jesus wants us to not hold money tightly, but He certainly does want us to be honest with all we have been given and all we do!
THINK ABOUT IT:
1. What worldly things can you sometimes hold onto just a little too tightly? Why?
2. Have you proven yourself to be honest with a little, or even a lot? Why or why not?
TRY THIS:
If you can, find a way to give away something that you own to someone else who needs it! It could be a pencil, some money, or something else!
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