Read Luke 16:1-13

Thursday

Read Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a servant who managed his property. The rich man was told that the manager was wasting his master’s money, ²so he called him in and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Hand in a complete account of your handling of my property, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ ³The servant said to himself, ‘My master is going to dismiss me from my job. What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.’

5 “So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶‘One hundred barrels of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him; ‘sit down and write fifty.’ ⁷Then he asked another one, ‘And you—how much do you owe?’ ‘A thousand sacks of wheat,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him; ‘write eight hundred.’

8 “As a result the master of this dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light.”

9 And Jesus went on to say, “And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home. ¹⁰Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. ¹¹If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?

13 “No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a servant will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Think

Just after telling the scandalous story of a father who welcomes his prodigal son home; Jesus tells another scandalous story.

A rich man had a corrupt manager who wasted his money.  The corrupt manager knew he was going to get into trouble so he quickly halved the debts of those who owed his master money.

Surprisingly - his master was pleased with him for this shrewdness.

God invites us to offer his grace scandalously and generously.

Pray

Lord help me to share the grace that you have shown me.