Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’
7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’
8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. (Luke 16:1-9 NLT)
This is one of the harder stories Jesus told to understand, especially since we do not know the backstory or the cultural context. I'm not going to try to guess about that. But I do know that the unfaithful manager was shrewd enough to use the things at his disposal to plan for his future.
Just like the Apostle Paul, who used his Roman citizenship to his advantage, we can use the gifts God gives us for good too. We can claim our rights as U.S. citizens. We can appeal to the freedom of religion promised in the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when we are told that we have to obey some man made law or government regulation instead of obeying the Lord. Ultimately we rely on God's love and forgiveness.
3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’
7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’
8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. (Luke 16:1-9 NLT)
This is one of the harder stories Jesus told to understand, especially since we do not know the backstory or the cultural context. I'm not going to try to guess about that. But I do know that the unfaithful manager was shrewd enough to use the things at his disposal to plan for his future.
Just like the Apostle Paul, who used his Roman citizenship to his advantage, we can use the gifts God gives us for good too. We can claim our rights as U.S. citizens. We can appeal to the freedom of religion promised in the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when we are told that we have to obey some man made law or government regulation instead of obeying the Lord. Ultimately we rely on God's love and forgiveness.
RSS Feed