Tag: money

Categories
Luke Devotionals

A small thing

Luke

I saw a couple of new things today as I read this passage, but I’ll focus on one today.

Jesus said,

Whoever is faithful in very little, is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.

So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine?

And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? (Luke 16:10-12)

Think about those words a bit. What does Jesus call worldly wealth?

He calls it “a very small thing.”

He also says, “It belongs to someone else.”

And he says if you are unfaithful with a very small thing that actually belongs to someone else (in reality, we’re all simply managing God’s money), how can God entrust you with greater things?

Hopefully, all of us want God to use us. God himself wants to work through us to touch others.

But if we are unfaithful in something so small as money, treating it like our own, when it’s really God’s, how can God trust us with Kingdom responsibilities?

I’m not just talking about tithing. I’m talking about how we use our money in general. Are we using it wisely, remembering that it really belongs to God?

Honestly, that’s something I need to think about too. So let’s all search our hearts before God and hear what he’d have us do.

Categories
Hebrews

What we love, what we put our trust in

Hebrews

I’ve gotta admit, having money makes life easier.

It makes it easier to deal with serious health problems, as we can afford more expensive types of treatments. It allows us to have better cars or homes when our old ones are breaking down.

And of course, it not only makes life easier, it can make life more comfortable and enjoyable as well.

But I suppose the question we need to ask ourselves is, “What do we love?”

And just as importantly, “What do we put our trust in?”

Those are the questions, the writer of Hebrews poses to us. He says,

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

What do we love? Money, and the things that money can buy?

These things pass away. They can buy happiness for a short time, but eventually we tire of them, or they grow old and break, and discontent stirs in our hearts again.

There are many people in this world who go through that endless cycle of discontent, never finding true happiness.

On the contrary, many people actually wreck their lives out of their love for money and things.

They go bankrupt, they destroy their marriages and families, they wreck their health, all for the love of money and pleasure.

And so God says, “Keep your life from the love of money and be content with what you have. Stop pursuing these things.

“You will never find contentment from these things. You can only find contentment in a relationship with me. I will never leave you nor forsake you. All that you need to make you happy and content you can find in me.”

Who or what do we trust to solve our problems?

Again, it is so easy to put our trust in money. Money can solve a lot of our problems. But it can’t solve all of them. And in some cases, it can actually make things worse.

But when we turn to God, we find the one who can uphold us in all circumstances. More, he will not abandon us in the hard times.

And because of that, we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.”

How about you? Who or what do you love? And who or what do you put your trust in?

Categories
Luke Luke 16

Who or what we serve

Luke

The god of Money is very big in our society. Many people long for it. They work for it. They even give their lives for it. But Jesus tells us here,

No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and Money. (Luke 16:13)

I’ve mentioned before, this one is tough for me, especially when it comes to giving. And the question I have to ask myself is, “Who or what am I serving?”

Am I serving money? Trying to do all I can to earn and then hold on to my money?

Or is money simply a tool I’m using in order to serve God? Does God have access to my wallet anywhere and at any time?

If he doesn’t, I’m not serving God. I’m serving money. And that’s idolatry.

That was the problem of the Pharisees. And when they heard Jesus, they sneered at him.

In those days, having wealth was a sign of their goodness. The feeling was, “God only blesses the righteous. Since I have all this money, I must be righteous.”

On the other hand, this caused the Pharisees to look down on everyone else who was not wealthy, including Jesus.

So not only did they commit the sin of idolatry, but the sin of pride was also deeply embedded in their hearts.

How about you? Are you proud of what you have? Are you making what you have your god?

Is your service to this god keeping you from being generous and touching the lives of those around you for the sake of God’s kingdom?

Who or what are you serving?

Categories
Luke Luke 16

Parable of the dishonest manager: Being faithful

Luke

While Jesus praised the dishonest manager in his story for at least planning for his future, he also criticized him, saying,

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. (Luke 16:10)

Jesus is saying here, “Be careful who you trust. Don’t hand over large responsibilities to just anyone. Watch them. Give them smaller responsibilities to start with and see how they respond.

If they are faithful, give them larger ones. But if they are not, then you know that they cannot be trusted.”

But lest we stop at judging other people, Jesus goes on to say,

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (Luke 16:11-12)

God has given us resources here on earth, money among other things. Are you being faithful with it?

Do you keep in mind that this money is not really your own? Rather it belongs to God who has blessed you with the talents and strength to work and earn money?

You don’t truly own the money you have. You are simply managing it.

And if you are not faithful with your money, what makes you think that God will give you responsibilities in other areas, particularly in ministry?

Not just formal ministry, like being a pastor, although I mean that too. But ministering to the people around you at home, at work, at school or wherever you may be.

As members of his kingdom, we are all called to do what we can to touch people with the love of God. And when we do, this has eternal rewards.

But can God trust you to do these things, if you are not faithful with the temporal things he has given you?

How faithful are you with the things God has given you? Can God trust you?

Categories
Luke Luke 16

Parable of the dishonest manager: Securing our future

Luke

Everyone desires security for their future. But how many of us really plan for it? Not just in terms of life here on earth, but in terms of eternity?

This story Jesus tells is a very unusual one, because he uses an evil man to illustrate a point on how we should live.

This man had apparently been embezzling money from his employer, and his employer called him to account for it. As a result, the man was going to lose his job.

He got his “30 days notice” and during that time, he fretted about what he could do to secure his future.

He didn’t want to do hard manual labor, nobody was going to hire him for white collar work after being fired for embezzlement, and he didn’t want to beg.

So he made a plan. He lowered the debt of those who owed his employer money so that when he was fired, they would welcome him into their homes and take care of him.

The weird thing? His employer commended him for looking out for his own future. (After which he undoubtedly said, “Now, get lost!”)

Jesus then said,

For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. (Luke 16:8)

In other words, non-Christians are often very shrewd in how they use their money and position to deal with people and so secure their future.

How much more as Christians, should we use the money and positions we have to secure ours?

Again, I’m not simply speaking in terms of life here on earth, but in terms of eternity.

This man used his position to gain friends that would welcome him when he entered the next stage of his life. In the same way, Jesus said,

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9)

What is Jesus saying here? Use the resources God has given you to win people into His Kingdom.

For if you do, when you reach heaven, and all the money you earned is but dust on this earth, all the people you reached with the gospel will welcome you there.

More than that, Jesus himself will welcome you, and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

But if you use your money solely to indulge yourself, no one will be there to meet you when you reach heaven. And when Jesus comes to meet you, he will call you to account for all you’ve done.

What will be left of all you accomplished on earth when he does?

As Paul said,

If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.

It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.

If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)

How about you? What kind of life are you securing for yourself?

Categories
Luke Luke 11 Matthew Matthew 6

Sermon on the Mount: Setting our sights

The gospels

I talked briefly yesterday about how if we set our sights on the sins we want to avoid, saying constantly to ourselves “I have to stay away from this,” we are actually more likely to fall to temptation.

A better way to fight temptation is to set our sights on God and follow him.

But this is true not only in temptation. It’s true in every aspect of our lives.

Jesus here talks about where we set our sights in everyday life, saying,

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

He then says,

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24)

So the question is, “Where are we setting our sights?”

For many people, they set their sights on what is temporary; on money, on things.

But Jesus warns us that these things will not last. That we are to set our hearts on that which is eternal. What is eternal?

Only two things: Our relationship with God, and our relationships with those who put their faith in Jesus.

There is nothing else on this earth that we can take with us into heaven.

And so this is what we need to be setting our sights on here on earth: Developing our relationship with God. Sharing the gospel with those who don’t know Christ. And developing our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

By doing this, we earn for ourselves treasures in heaven. For what greater treasure is there than a relationship with the God who loves us and with those we love?

But so many people, even Christians, set their hearts on money. On the things of this world.

Jesus warns that we can’t do this. God doesn’t accept half-hearted service. Either we serve money or we serve him.

Jesus asks in this passage what kind of eyes we have. Do we have eyes that see things as they really are? Do we have eyes that see what’s truly important?

He says that if we do, our life will be filled with light. We’ll live a life worth living, the kind of life God intended for us. A life centered around relationships.

But if we don’t, our life will be filled with darkness.

We’ll be stumbling around unfulfilled and never knowing why. We’ll constantly be grasping for money and other things that ultimately leave us empty if we make them our life’s pursuit.

And he laments that if what we think is “light” is truly darkness, how great that darkness truly is. So he warns in Luke 11:35,

See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

How about you? What are your eyes set on?

Categories
Psalms

What money can’t buy: Wisdom from the Psalms

Psalms

As the old saying goes, “Money makes the world go round.”  But the psalmist here reminds us of another more important truth.  “There are some things that money can’t buy.”

He writes,

No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him —
the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough —
that he should live on forever and not see decay. (Psalm 49:7-9)

In short, no one can buy eternal life.  All of us, rich or poor, wise or foolish, powerful or weak, whoever we may be, will someday die.  And much as we’d like to, we can’t take our money with us.

What’s more, it will not buy us a place in heaven.  All the money in the world cannot pay the penalty for our sin.

Only one person can.  God.  And so he came down to this earth, and he paid the penalty for our sin, not with money, but with his blood shed on the cross.

It’s amazing to me the insight the psalmist had into this, even before Christ came.  He wrote,

But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.  (Psalm 49:15)

Though the psalmist had no knowledge of Christ, nevertheless he says with confidence that we will live on to be with God through the ransom he himself pays.

And so he writes,

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,
when the splendor of his house increases;
for he will take nothing with him when he dies,
his splendor will not descend with him.

Though while he lived he counted himself blessed —
and men praise you when you prosper —
he will join the generation of his fathers,
who will never see the light of life.  (Psalm 49:16-19)

How about you?  Do you envy those with wealth?  Are you seeking it yourself?  Or do you have it, and are making it your life purpose to just make more and more?

Remember the words of the psalmist.

A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.  (Psalm 49:20)

Having money and wealth is by no means bad.  It can be used to do a lot of good in this world and for God’s kingdom.

But let us understand that money is definitely not everything.  There are more important things in life.  And there are definitely things that money cannot buy.