Luke 16

Luke 16

Recently I ordered a bag online. When it came in the mail, not only did I receive what I had originally purchased, but another bag and a wallet that I did not purchase. To be honest, when I first opened the package I thought, “Wow! Thanks God, what a fun surprise.” But as I was looking at the other package Luke 16:10-11 popped into my mind “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?”

In today’s reading, we read two different stories about money. One about a clever manager, and one about a rich man and a beggar. Although these parables are different, one truth remains the same; if we aren’t careful, money can easily become our God. 

There is nothing that tests God’s lordship in our life quite like money. And although money itself isn’t bad, wealth whispers promises of power, control and security. If we let it, money can falsey define our success, and even freedom. 

God calls us to be honest even in the small details that we can easily rationalize. “No one would have known if I would have kept that bag.” “It was their fault, if they want me to send it back they can reach out to me.” But that’s not who God has asked me to be, He’s asked me to be honest. We must believe that the treasures laid up for us in heaven are far more valuable than those on Earth. And we must cling unswervingly to the word of God, constantly asking God to check our hearts so that money isn’t our master.

As you ponder today’s reading, ask God to search your heart. Are you trustworthy? Is the way you spend your money honoring God? Where does your money easily flow and how does God feel about that?