May the mumbling commence!
In this life, what is the most important? If we listen to the wisdom of the world, we might conclude that money drives many things. On the surface, money makes life easier. So you and I should press onward to obtain and hold onto a well-paying job. In this world, to press onward and hold onto wealth often requires ruthlessness and shrewdness. Read the parable of the shrewd manager from the beginning of Luke chapter sixteen:
Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 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.'
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 – I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied.
The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
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.'
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. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
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. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money."
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.” (Verses 1-15)
This parable is difficult not to struggle with. The shrewd manager was wasting his master’s possessions. It cannot be good to waste our Master’s possessions! Indeed, wasting his master’s possession is the reason for losing his job. We are not told how the manager was wasting possessions, but we can infer some things by the way he makes friends.
The shrewd manager meets with his master’s clients. One client gets his bill reduced by half. Another client gets his bill reduced by twenty-per-cent. Let us ask ourselves this question: Was the manager inflating the bills of his master’s clients for personal gain? The wisdom of the world would smile upon such deception. In fact, worldly wisdom would tell us to cheat as many clients we could before we lose our jobs – to accumulate money to live on.
Instead the shrewd manager eschewed temporary monetary gains to build friendships. Friendship became his highest goal not money making. In God’s economy, relationship is the most valuable commodity. Love of money – or anything else for that matter – is destructive to right relationships.
When we remove the deceptions from our eyes, we will see that relationships are also the greatest commodity in this world. So, spend less time at the office and more time with family and friends. And, when you must spend time in the office, do not allow money or possessions to be your master. Seek there too, in the office, to create right relationships with your boss and you clients. Handle your earthly relationships with care so that you may be trusted with the true riches of heaven…
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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