Written ~ 11-10-2023
Luke 16:10-15
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.
11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?
12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at Him. 15 Then He said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.
After reading these verses, who would you say you are? Are you a faithful, honest person who is devoted wholeheartedly to the Lord? Or are you unfaithful, dishonest and have put all your devotion in worldly pleasures and possessions? Do you honor what the world considers as good, or do you see through the eyes of the Lord and consider worldly pleasures to be detestable? You can’t hang in the balance, verse 16:13 makes that very clear, “No one can serve two masters…”
We really do have a choice as to how we go about our lives. We can be deemed unfaithful and dishonest because of our track record with the little we have been given. Or we can choose to be faithful and honest in what God has given us. If the Lord wants to use you for bigger and grander things for His Kingdom, in what state is your heart going to be found? If what little you have has been taken care of carelessly and dishonestly, how can you be trusted with anything more than what you have right now? Verses 16:11-12 say, “…if you are untrustworthy…who will trust you?… if you are not faithful…why should you be trusted…”
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, I sincerely hope your heart is faithful and honest. But maybe there are areas in your life that you still need to give better attention and care. Let’s not mirror the religious leaders attitudes like in verses 16:14-15… Where they “…dearly loved their money and liked to appear righteous in public…” It’s detestable to the Lord when honor is placed on the things of this world.
When you make the decision to follow Jesus, you have been made brand new, old attitudes will be done away with. So if you did have a dishonest heart or you were untrustworthy, those things can and will be changed.
What ever God has given you; be faithful and honest. God wants to bless our lives, He wants to give us more responsibility to help further His Kingdom. Can you be trusted with more? Can you serve one master? Verse 16:13 continues on to say,
“For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
I think it’s clear that we all have a decision to make. Will we place our earthly possessions in a higher place of importance than God? Will we strut around feeling all proud of all the “things” we have, showing off our worldly wealth? Or are we humbled with the “little.” Do we take care of the “little” as if it were priceless. God looks at our hearts! He knows where we place our highest devotion. Hopefully we can all say that God is the only one we wholeheartedly honor.
16:13b,
“You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
Let’s look a couple more Scriptures that speak about the matter of money or possessions and the state of our hearts…
1 Timothy 6:9-10, 9 “But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”
Hebrews 13:5a, 5 “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have.”
Ecclesiastes 5:10, 10 “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!”
Deuteronomy 8:17-18a, 17 “He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ 18 Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful…”
So, think about what you have right now. Your possessions, your job, your ministry, whatever it is that God has blessed you with. Are you faithful enough that God could peer into your heart right now and consider you trustworthy for more?
Honor the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength…
~AMEN~