Luke 16:1-12 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 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ 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 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?
Who does the steward represent here? The steward represents every Christian, the rich man represents God, represents Lord Jesus. Why does the rich man praise the steward for doing unrighteous things with his money? Besides, Lord Jesus says “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” It means that people in the world is wiser than the children of light when dealing with the things of the world. People in the world plan for the future of this life, and the steward is wise because he plans for the future. Here Lord Jesus wants us to plan for the eternal future. Lord Jesus continued to say that making friends with the worldly wealth, when the money is gone, they can take you to the eternal dwellings. We think that the money belongs to us, but in fact it belongs to God, it is God who let us manage it. Here Lord Jesus wants us to use the money that God wants us to manage to make friends, make eternal friends. When the money is useless, when we go to heaven, they can take us to the eternal dwellings. Lord Jesus went on to say that if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? We are only God’s stewards. The money we manage and use is God’s money. Just as the parable says, we are all unrighteous stewards, because we use the money that does not belong to us. This parable Lord Jesus speaks spiritually. It is not that he asks us to do unrighteous things in the world, but he asks us to manage his money faithfully, because when we leave the world, we can no longer be the stewards of the money. If we manage the wealth that belongs to God faithfully, and in the future God will give us the wealth that truly belongs to us. Lord Jesus said that if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own. Money and even our lives belong to God. If we are unfaithful in other people’s property, that is, unfaithful in managing the money that belongs to God, how can God give us the property that truly belong to us in the future.
In short, we should use the money that God wants us to manage to make friends, to plan for our eternal future, manage the money faithfully, help the poor, help those who are in need. In the future, God will give us the treasure that truly belongs to us, the heavenly reward.
May God bless you and your family. 😊
