Bible
Study: Romans 15, 14 to 21. And Luke 16, 1 to 8.
In today’s
Gospel passage, Jesus gives us a parable about an unjust steward who was to be
dismissed from service. The steward having realised he would need help after
his dismissal decided to call his master’s debtors one after the other and
slashed down the bill of what they owed. In the end, the master of the steward
commended him not for his wastage but for his shrewdness in trying to win
favour from his master’s debtors.
The reason
why Jesus gave this parable can be seen in verse 8 when he said: “for the sons
of this world are wiser in their own generation than the sons of light.” His
purpose was to show that we as children of the light have a lot to learn from
the children of this world. What are those lessons we can learn from the wisdom
of the unjust steward?
One, THE
IMPORTANCE OF PREPARATION.
The
steward was told he would be dismissed from service and he decided to prepare
on time before his actual dismissal. There is a saying that Proper Preparation
Prevents Poor Performance. When you know that something you probably do not
like will happen, the best thing to do is to prepare for its likely outcomes
rather than simply wishing it wouldn’t happen.
As children
of God, we all know that someday we too would be dismissed from life, then we
all would stand before the judgment seat of God. It would be foolishness to
start wishing that we would live forever. Instead, what we must do is to
prepare for our death. Every day, as long as we breathe, we have an opportunity
to do something right so that when we die, our souls would not languish
forever. It is never too early to start planning for your death, it is never
too early to start thinking of what would happen to your children or your family
members if you were to die now.
Whatever
it is that we fear, it is simply wisdom to prepare for it and this is what the
parable teaches us.
Two, THE
USE OF MONEY IN WINNING FAVOUR FOR OURSELVES.
Money is
useless if all we do with it is to pile it up. Someday, we would have to
relinquish everything that we own whether we like it or not. And so, no matter
how much money we gather, if we do not give it out, we would have wasted our
time and efforts in gathering it in the first place.
How do we
use money? Remember, that on the last day we would be judged based on these questions:
When I was hungry, did you give me food to eat? When I was thirsty, did you
give me water to drink? When I was homeless, did you welcome me to your home? And
so on. These acts of kindness costs money and so it is purely wisdom on our
part to use our money as children of light for acts of charity. In this sense,
by being generous to people who have no means of ever paying us back, we would
win friends for ourselves in heaven.
Three,
USING EVERY MEANS TO PROMOTE GOD’S KINGDOM.
In the
final analysis, the unjust steward did what he had to do so that he can sustain
his extravagant lifestyle. Hence, he first thought about digging, then he considered
begging before taking the option of forgiving his master’s debtors part of their
debts.
As
children of God, what is our primary purpose in life if not to win more souls
for God? As such, we cannot continue to rely on the same outdated methods of
evangelising. This parable calls for creativity on our part and willingness to
employ every means possible in further promoting God’s kingdom on earth. Even
if it demands using very indirect strategies.
By
slashing down their debts, these men did not know what the steward was aiming
at. All they could do was to thank him for having a warm heart and for
considering their plight. This was the height of the steward’s creativity. So
the question for us today is: “What creative ways can we employ in bringing
people closer to God?”
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, teach me to employ every means and talents at my disposal always in
preparation for that final Day of Judgment when I shall have to give an account
of my life. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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