January 16th - Gen. 39-41, Luke 16

Scripture: Luke 16:9-13
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 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."

Observations:
Jesus spoke frequently about money and hell. He points to both in this passage. These truths stated by Jesus (9-13)are bookended by the stories he told to get his point across. This section is packed with meaning, covering stewardship, grace, trustworthiness, idolatry, and eternity. I love the clarity Jesus gives when he explains that the money is simply a tool, not the focus or the end game. We must choose how we will use this tool. Will we be kingdom builders with our tools?

Application:
We as Christians need to take care of what God has given to us. Some will be given more, and they must shepherd that wisely and they must also guard their hearts against making their success and wealth an idol. This is a strong reminder to me to continually pursue Christ and not money (or things). We are at a place in life where we must maintain a very tight budget to make ends meet. It would be easy to loose focus for a period and create problems for ourselves financially. It would also be easy to become focused on the pursuit of money and allow that to replace our passion for Christ. Sure we would love to have more money, to not have to watch every dollar we spend, but not at the expense of our relationship with Jesus. Our culture constantly bombards us with a message contrary to this, so we need to be especially diligent, and we need to keep each other (my wife and I) accountable in this area. The thing I have discovered is that after a few years of practice, this is becoming easier. Not easy, but easier.

This also means that someday when student loans are behind us and we have the freedom to give generously, that we will. We have talked about this, and we look forward to the day where we can be a blessing to other people financially.


Prayer: Christ, it is my prayer that our focus remains on you. May you give us the strength to endure the thin times, and the wisdom to flourish in times of prosperity. May we bring honor and glory to you in how we handle our finances. I pray that we will reach that point where we can be graciously generous with our finances, and that we have the discernment needed to bless others with our wealth. I pray also that I may be a good steward with any church finances I am trusted with. Thank you for being our Lord and Savior. Amen.