Scripture - Luke 16:1-10 He also said to His disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2 So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' 3 "Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.' 5 "So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6 And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7 Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. 9 "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
Observation - In this parable Jesus is describing the proper use of ones position and ones money. He makes it very clear that at some point you are going to lose what you have materially and that even your position in job is not guaranteed. The rich man comes and basically fires the manager for improper use of his position and of loosely managing the rich man's money. He gives the manager direction to give account of himself and the manager right away understand that he needs to make long term plans and protect himself from the pains of unemployment. He does this by using what he has to make friends of his masters clients. The understanding that we gain from this parable is that we must use the wealth, position, job and material positions to rightly serve the kingdom of God. All can be lost in a moment - with today's economy everyone is panicking and totally unsecure. It is times like these that we rest knowing we are using what we have to glorify the king and to secure our positions beyond this life.
Application - We must use what we have for God and to work toward the kingdom of God. We only have a limited time here, we are only given so many resources and everything we have must be used to make friends of the kingdom. Looking to invest in the harvest and working to make friends of our father's clients must be our focus. Many of us take the resources that God has granted us and we squander them and are not accountable for them. We must redirect these resources to the harvest and the work of God. Looking toward heaven as we approach every day - knowing that at any moment we could be standng in front of Him.
Prayer - Father - Help me to use what you have given me in gaining friends that will endure to the end and will be welcomed into eternal life. Father I want to reinvest what you have given me to reach the world for the kingdom of God. Help me each day to employ your resources wisely.
