M
[h=2][/h]
Luke 16:1-17 AMP
[1] ALSO Jesus said to the disciples, There was a certain rich man who had a manager of his estate, and accusations
against this man were brought to him, that he was squandering his master's possessions. [2] And he called him and
said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management of my affairs, for you can be
my manager no longer.
[3] And the manager of the estate said to himself, What shall I do, seeing that my master is taking the management
away from me? I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. [4] I have come to know what I will do, so that they
my master's debtors may accept and welcome me into their houses when I am put out of the management.
[5] So he summoned his master's debtors one by one, and he said to the first, How much do you owe my master?
[6] He said, A hundred measures about 900 gallons of oil. And he said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement
of obligation, and sit down quickly and write fifty about 450 gallons.
[7] After that he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures about 900 bushels of wheat.
He said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement of obligation, and write eighty about 700 bushels. [8] And his master praised the dishonest (unjust) manager for acting shrewdly and prudently; for the sons of this age are shrewder
and more prudent and wiser in relation to their own generation to their own age and kind than are the sons of light.
[9] And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions),
so that when it fails, they those you have favored may receive and welcome you into the everlasting habitations (dwellings). [10] He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little thing is dishonest and unjust also in much.
[11] Therefore if you have not been faithful in the case of unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions),
who will entrust to you the true riches? [12] And if you have not proved faithful in that which belongs to another whether
God or man, who will give you that which is your own that is, the true riches?
[13] No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or anything in which you trust and
on which you rely). [14] Now the Pharisees, who were covetous and lovers of money, heard all these things taken together, and they began to sneer at and ridicule and scoff at Him.
[15] But He said to them, You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted and highly thought of among men is detestable and abhorrent (an abomination) in the sight of God. I Sam. 16:7; Prov. 21:2. [16] Until John came, there were the Law and the Prophets; since then the good news (the Gospel)
of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone strives violently to go in would force his own way rather than God's way into it. [17] Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to fail and become void.
------------
I inadvertently went off topic in another thread, but I have been thinking about the above parable since.
So I thought I would post my original response and continue with it.
All other contributions and and insights on this are gratefully accepted.
I don't think the servant here was being commended for being deceitful, but for his shrewdness, it was a
way of saying that even the world knows how to be shrewd and so should we.
Verse 11-12 me paraphrasing, if you are deceitful with worldly goods, gifts, money etc how can you be trusted
with that which belongs to God.
The rest of the passage goes on with the story of the rich man and Lazarus with the rich man having received his reward
on earth while Lazarus getting his reward in heaven.
I believe the above was a parable about using talents, money, skills and being faithful but without compromise for the
service of the master - Jesus. The world knows how to do this for its own ends, but what about ourselves.
Then there is the other part about not allowing money to be the master, you will serve one or the other.
The Pharisees who heard this seemed to know exactly what he was talking about and took it personally.
Who was their master? It does not appear to have been God, they were very shrewd in their worldly dealings,
but took it as a personal attack on themselves, even though the parable was actually addressed to the disciples.
Guilty conscious perhaps on their part?
It does seem the case that the world gets away with murder and twists and manipulates at every opportunity, but this
life is temporary and maybe we need to be heavenly minded while here on earth and use our money talents etc in the
service of the master.
I have been thinking about this, if you have your own business then you will put a lot of time and effort into making it successful and want the best for it. Maybe we need to think more about the business of Jesus and treat it in the same way.
I have often heard it said that as human beings we invest a lot into what matters to us, time, energy, money etc.
I wonder what percentage of that is invested in the Kingdom of God, I would add that I am also speaking
to myself here
The passages about being a servant to God or money are also interesting. First impressions are that only
rich people, bankers, investors celebs etc are servants to money, but the more I have thought about it,
the more I think this could possibly apply to us all whether rich or poor.
Most of what we do is because we are a servant to money in some way, we all strive to keep a roof over our
heads, food on the table, pay the bills, families looked after etc. and that is perfectably normal and part of life.
What I have been wondering though is if it is truly possible to rely on God for all our needs with so much faith that the
day to day worries of daily supporting ourselves are taken out of the equation, then maybe we could truly say
we are no longer servants to money and instead we would be free to serve God and rely on him.
I am not referring to the prosperity gospel here at all, I don't think as Christians we are called to be rich, in fact
I believe we are called to use what we have for Gods service, which can often mean giving it away! In fact
there has been times when unexpected money has come my way but then so has an apparent need of another
and it has then become obvious what the money was for!
I suppose what I am wondering about is, if it is possible to get to a position where we truly can rely on Christ
to meet all our needs without worrying about money, or the lack of it being at the forefront of everything.
I know I have experienced this to a certain degree, with God's provision coming at the most needy times, yet
still I find myself fretting about being a good employee in case I should lose my job with the financial repercussions
of that, fretting about where I might live in the future, going around the house and turning the radiators down to
reduce the bills etc.
Is it possible to throw off the burdens of life to such a degree that we are no longer slaves to anything
including money and to fully take up the yoke of Jesus and really use what we have in the service of God.
Matthew 11:28-30 AMP
[28] Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls. [29] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. [30] For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
I was reminded of Hudson Taylor missionary to China as I got to the end of this, so I have posted a
link here to his biography if anyone is interested. It is a bit long but a great read. Possibly this answers
all my questions!
Hudson Taylor Life and Ministry - Missionary Biographies - Worldwide Missions
Oh gosh I'm rambling now and it's getting late. I will leave it there for any thoughts you may have.
Maybe I have rambled so much that none of you have a clue what I am talking about! But then I am a
woman, we are allowed to ramble on a bit - that's a new rule from now on.
Luke 16:1-17 AMP
[1] ALSO Jesus said to the disciples, There was a certain rich man who had a manager of his estate, and accusations
against this man were brought to him, that he was squandering his master's possessions. [2] And he called him and
said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management of my affairs, for you can be
my manager no longer.
[3] And the manager of the estate said to himself, What shall I do, seeing that my master is taking the management
away from me? I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. [4] I have come to know what I will do, so that they
my master's debtors may accept and welcome me into their houses when I am put out of the management.
[5] So he summoned his master's debtors one by one, and he said to the first, How much do you owe my master?
[6] He said, A hundred measures about 900 gallons of oil. And he said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement
of obligation, and sit down quickly and write fifty about 450 gallons.
[7] After that he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures about 900 bushels of wheat.
He said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement of obligation, and write eighty about 700 bushels. [8] And his master praised the dishonest (unjust) manager for acting shrewdly and prudently; for the sons of this age are shrewder
and more prudent and wiser in relation to their own generation to their own age and kind than are the sons of light.
[9] And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions),
so that when it fails, they those you have favored may receive and welcome you into the everlasting habitations (dwellings). [10] He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little thing is dishonest and unjust also in much.
[11] Therefore if you have not been faithful in the case of unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions),
who will entrust to you the true riches? [12] And if you have not proved faithful in that which belongs to another whether
God or man, who will give you that which is your own that is, the true riches?
[13] No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or anything in which you trust and
on which you rely). [14] Now the Pharisees, who were covetous and lovers of money, heard all these things taken together, and they began to sneer at and ridicule and scoff at Him.
[15] But He said to them, You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted and highly thought of among men is detestable and abhorrent (an abomination) in the sight of God. I Sam. 16:7; Prov. 21:2. [16] Until John came, there were the Law and the Prophets; since then the good news (the Gospel)
of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone strives violently to go in would force his own way rather than God's way into it. [17] Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to fail and become void.
------------
I inadvertently went off topic in another thread, but I have been thinking about the above parable since.
So I thought I would post my original response and continue with it.
All other contributions and and insights on this are gratefully accepted.
I don't think the servant here was being commended for being deceitful, but for his shrewdness, it was a
way of saying that even the world knows how to be shrewd and so should we.
Verse 11-12 me paraphrasing, if you are deceitful with worldly goods, gifts, money etc how can you be trusted
with that which belongs to God.
The rest of the passage goes on with the story of the rich man and Lazarus with the rich man having received his reward
on earth while Lazarus getting his reward in heaven.
I believe the above was a parable about using talents, money, skills and being faithful but without compromise for the
service of the master - Jesus. The world knows how to do this for its own ends, but what about ourselves.
Then there is the other part about not allowing money to be the master, you will serve one or the other.
The Pharisees who heard this seemed to know exactly what he was talking about and took it personally.
Who was their master? It does not appear to have been God, they were very shrewd in their worldly dealings,
but took it as a personal attack on themselves, even though the parable was actually addressed to the disciples.
Guilty conscious perhaps on their part?
It does seem the case that the world gets away with murder and twists and manipulates at every opportunity, but this
life is temporary and maybe we need to be heavenly minded while here on earth and use our money talents etc in the
service of the master.
I have been thinking about this, if you have your own business then you will put a lot of time and effort into making it successful and want the best for it. Maybe we need to think more about the business of Jesus and treat it in the same way.
I have often heard it said that as human beings we invest a lot into what matters to us, time, energy, money etc.
I wonder what percentage of that is invested in the Kingdom of God, I would add that I am also speaking
to myself here
The passages about being a servant to God or money are also interesting. First impressions are that only
rich people, bankers, investors celebs etc are servants to money, but the more I have thought about it,
the more I think this could possibly apply to us all whether rich or poor.
Most of what we do is because we are a servant to money in some way, we all strive to keep a roof over our
heads, food on the table, pay the bills, families looked after etc. and that is perfectably normal and part of life.
What I have been wondering though is if it is truly possible to rely on God for all our needs with so much faith that the
day to day worries of daily supporting ourselves are taken out of the equation, then maybe we could truly say
we are no longer servants to money and instead we would be free to serve God and rely on him.
I am not referring to the prosperity gospel here at all, I don't think as Christians we are called to be rich, in fact
I believe we are called to use what we have for Gods service, which can often mean giving it away! In fact
there has been times when unexpected money has come my way but then so has an apparent need of another
and it has then become obvious what the money was for!
I suppose what I am wondering about is, if it is possible to get to a position where we truly can rely on Christ
to meet all our needs without worrying about money, or the lack of it being at the forefront of everything.
I know I have experienced this to a certain degree, with God's provision coming at the most needy times, yet
still I find myself fretting about being a good employee in case I should lose my job with the financial repercussions
of that, fretting about where I might live in the future, going around the house and turning the radiators down to
reduce the bills etc.
Is it possible to throw off the burdens of life to such a degree that we are no longer slaves to anything
including money and to fully take up the yoke of Jesus and really use what we have in the service of God.
Matthew 11:28-30 AMP
[28] Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls. [29] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. [30] For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
I was reminded of Hudson Taylor missionary to China as I got to the end of this, so I have posted a
link here to his biography if anyone is interested. It is a bit long but a great read. Possibly this answers
all my questions!
Hudson Taylor Life and Ministry - Missionary Biographies - Worldwide Missions
Oh gosh I'm rambling now and it's getting late
. I will leave it there for any thoughts you may have.Maybe I have rambled so much that none of you have a clue what I am talking about! But then I am a
woman, we are allowed to ramble on a bit - that's a new rule from now on.
