Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 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.’
“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 – I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
“‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred’ …
“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. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
(verses 1-6, 8-9)
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What an odd, difficult, perplexing story. It seems, on the surface, to glorify unscrupulous behaviour. But that simply can’t be. The Lord can’t be recommending unethical, self-serving action.
What then? The bigger picture is that this soon-to-be-fired manager has limited time and opportunity but uses them effectively to prepare the way for his future. It is not his ethics that are being commended, but rather his determined focus.
Do I act with equal determination? Do I use the worldly wealth, and resources and opportunities entrusted to me, to invest in the Kingdom? I can’t help but think that so often, for so many days in a row, I simply live life for “now,” rather than using what I’ve got right here, right now, for “then.” Each moment, each encounter, each conversation is potentially an opportunity to change the ledger of eternity, to gain new friends in the Kingdom, to impact someone with heavenly influence, opening doors of future welcome.
The shrewd manager was commended for his future focus. How about me?
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Lord, give me eyes today to see clearly the opportunities and resources you put right in front of me. Please strengthen my hand to do good work “now” for kingdom blessing “then”.
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Reflect:
As you look ahead to the rest of this day, what is one new thing you can do that will invest in eternity?
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Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
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