Make a Choice

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

MAKE A CHOICE

Luke 16:1-13

16:1 Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 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.' 3 "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— 4 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' 5 "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6 "'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' 7 "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.' 8 "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. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10 "Whoever can be trusted with very in the little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? 13 "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." 

NIV

This parable could be misleading if we were to look at it in the sense of a worldview. It could be seen as an excuse to be shrew with finances, investing in the world, and making as much money as possible for our own purposes and gain. We might even attempt to use a scripture or two out of context to justify our being wise money, thinking that if we have been wise with a little, God will give us more of the world’s money to be in charge. The whole problem is this last statement of Jesus or the conclusion or point of the parable. However, that is another point that Jesus makes as well, regarding the difference between the people of the world and the people of light. The people of the world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light. Of course, we are the children of light, we live in the light, and we live in Jesus as he is the Light of the World. Jesus makes it clear that we are to use our money to make friends so that when it is all gone, which indicates that we are not supposed to store up our wealth for our own future, so we can sit back, take life easy, as the rich farmer through to himself, and then God demanded his soul that night and he would leave all his worldly gain behind for others to enjoy. Instead, Jesus made the point that we should give our wealth to those in need so that when we have nothing left for our future, we will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Just a thought regarding a way to look at what Jesus is telling the people. All that fits quite well with his final point of not serving two masters. We can serve God and money. We cannot use God as the reason we store up for the future, so we can retire with ease, having enough to live a good life until we die. He never said that is what we are to do, that if we would be shrewd managers of worldly things, He would bless us with more money to gain more for our future. Jesus made it clear, that we cannot serve or live according to the world’s system, and fully serve Him, for he has a whole different system to live by. It is one or the other, both feet in the kingdom of God instead of one foot in the kingdom of the world and one foot in the kingdom of God. We cannot ride the fence either. We have to be all in for one or the other. We must decide who we are going to serve, God or the world, we are either children of the light or children of the world, which is children of the dark. We must make a choice.