Knowing The Word in Luke 16:10-13

A Faithful Steward

16:10 “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. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13 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.”

Comments

For American Christians, there may be no more in-your-face, uncomfortable teaching by Jesus on wealth. We are the wealthiest group of Jesus followers in the history of the world. Together, our wealth could change the trajectory of the world in a way that “loving one’s neighbor as oneself” has only occasionally been seen before.

Jesus teaches that faithfulness arises out of who one is and what one does. What we do with the small things in life, we do also with the big things. The money, or wealth, we think we own is not really ours. It is always God’s. He shares it with us, his stewards, who are to use it for his glory, not ours. Our great temptation is to think we have gained our wealth on our own, and that it is ours to use as we please. When one falls into that temptation, then our wealth becomes our master. No one can give his full devotion to two masters at once. When wealth becomes an idol and takes precedence over God, we become lost.

Application

All Christians are called to have a generosity plan, where we proactively set aside some of our wealth to give away to the work of the church and to assist those in need, whom we know, directly. What is your generosity plan? If you do not have one, today is a good day to begin working on it.

Prayer

Lord, as difficult as it seems, I want to hand everything I own over to you. You are the only God. Where I have made my wealth an idol in my life, I repent. As you are generous to me, I want to be generous back to you and others. Mold and shape me into the cheerful giver you want me to be.