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Wednesday, March
4, 2009
Faithful In The Least
Luke 16:8-10 And the lord commended the
unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world
are in their generation wiser than the children of light. (9) And I say
unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness;
that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. (10)
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he
that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. (KJV)
Williams New Testament translation
of Luke 16:8-10
8. And his master praised the dishonest
manager, because he acted with shrewd business sense, for the men of the
world act with more business sense toward their fellows than the men who
enjoy spiritual light. 9. So I tell you, make friends by the right use of
your money, which so easily tends to wrongdoing, so that when it fails,
your friends may welcome you to the eternal dwellings. 10. The man who is
dependable in a very small matter is dependable also in a large deal, the
man who is dishonest in a very small matter is dishonest also in a large
deal.
What we are seeing in the above
illustration is an area where many fall, many of whom are standing in
pulpits preaching to others how to live a life of faithfulness, only to be
unfaithful themselves concerning the riches of this life. What we see taking
place is an unjust steward who found out that hoarding wealth and cheating
others was not going to work as far as being a servant of the Lord. There
had to be a change of heart, and a new way of handling these things if he
was going to be in good standing with God. This man needed to make peace
with God and those that he had been dealing with concerning this
stewardship, so that some day when he stands before the Lord to give
account of his actions he would be blameless and able to enter into the
eternal realm with those who were faithful as well.
Luke 16:11-13 If therefore ye have not
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the
true riches? (12) And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another
man's, who shall give you that which is your own? (13) No servant can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon. (KJV)
Williams New Testament translation
of Luke 16:11-13
11. So if you have not proved dependable
in handling your ill-gotten riches, who will trust you with the true
riches? 12. And if you have not proved dependable in what belongs to
someone else, who will trust you with what belongs to you? 13. No
house-servant can be a slave to two masters, for either he will hate one
and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and
money.
You know that area our Lord calls the
least, the riches of this world; well, it seems mankind has it backwards,
because that seems to be the most important part of their life. Let’s look
at verses eleven and twelve this way, if the earth is the Lord’s and the
fullness thereof then would not everything, including the riches our Lord
gave you to distribute to the necessity of the saints be His anyway? So if
you don’t learn to be faithful in that area, what makes you think He will
give you the most important riches, that being the Spiritual ones? When I
watch and hear people constantly preaching and teaching on giving,
especially those that are in the pulpits and the giving is in their
direction, I see people who have sold out and have never gotten beyond what
our Lord said should be the least of their concerns; which sad to say, for
them has now gotten the most attention. And people wonder why the so called
church is so impotent and useless, unfaithful would be another way of
describing it.
Luke 16:13-15 No servant can serve two
masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he
will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon. (14) And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these
things: and they derided him. (15) And he said unto them, Ye are they which
justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which
is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (KJV)
Oh how mankind gets the cart before the
horse and then wonders why they blindly end up in a ditch, tipped over with
their wheels spinning idly in circles. What should have been the least
becomes the most highly esteemed by mankind; and what they should have been
faithful in, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which is found in
Christ, is still a mystery to them because they haven’t proved themselves
faithful to our Lord.
1 Timothy 6:10-11 For the love of money
is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred
from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (11) But
thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. (KJV)
Paul was counted faithful, so God put Him
in His ministry to deliver a message that would point the people in the
realm of the Spirit and not the flesh. Paul realized God’s priority list
and man’s were much different, and was able to discern between good and
evil. Are you faithful to our Lord today; moving forward in your walk, or
is He the least of your concerns?
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