Luke 16:10-11—“Whoever is faithful in a very little is
faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest
also in much. If then you have not been
faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”
It has been said that America is consumed with a virulent
(think virus) ethic of consumerism. The
more we have, the more we want. In western cultures, wealth is the mark of
success, so from a young age we learn to measure our personal worth in terms of
how much we have instead of who we are.
In this Scripture, though, Jesus reminds us that integrity is worth far
more than money can buy. He also teaches
that anyone who is irresponsible or spiritually immature will not inherit true
riches because that person has not been proven trustworthy. Keep in mind that God’ true riches are not
measured in dollar signs—His ways are not our ways. His measure is love and deep intimate relationship
with Him. But if he can’t trust us with
a little bit of earthly wealth, why in the world would he trust us with the
true riches of His kingdom? And if we
think about it, His rationale makes complete sense—it is the same way we treat
others around us. We all have someone unreliable
in our lives. Just recently, for
example, one of my students requested I place him on a competition team this
fall. This particular student, however,
did not fulfill certain responsibilities I placed on him last year. So, when he
came to me this year, I had to tell him that because he had been irresponsible
in the less prestigious tasks I assigned him, I didn’t feel I could trust him
with bigger responsibilities. God does
the same thing with us—from time to time He puts us in a position to do
something we might not necessarily enjoy or that seems beneath us. When we mishandle our earthly resources, we
interfere with our ability to be in relationship God. But if we faithfully follow and serve Him, we
will prove ourselves worthy of greater responsibility.
Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, thank God for
blessing and challenging you to be a faithful servant. Dedicate yourself to being a good steward of
the resources He has provided you. Pray
that God would find you faithful in little so that He can entrust you the true
riches.
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