Focusing on the means & forgetting about the ends is foolish at best & a dire waste of time, talent & treasure at worst.
That’s the gist of Jesus’s message about a dishonest rascal who cheated his lord out of a large sum of wealth. The rich man heard that his manager was wasting his money, so he told the man to gather his reports because he was about to be fired.
The shrewd manager cleverly invited people who owed money to his employer to a meeting where he slashed their balance in half! He did this to ensure that he’d have friends once he was fired.
I’ve never quite understood why Jesus exemplified his rascally conduct until today. What is praised is not the man’s dishonesty, but his foresight, discernment & wisdom of how to employ possessions for a future purpose.
Jesus says if your faithful in the little, you will be faithful with much & reminds us that we can’t serve both God & money. The word for “money” means that in which we trust. We cannot trust money & God
Budgeting is binary in God’s economy. It serves either an earthly or eternal aim.
If we only focus on the means, our vision becomes myopic & we miss out on the why behind them👉🏽the end. There’s always an end, so what means are we employing to get there?
The dishonest manager prostituted incredible qualities for a low purpose…that’s easy to see in the story, but if we’re honest, we often do the same 😬
When we fix our hope on that which is destined to perish, acquiring much for the sake of acquiring, we dizzy ourselves with lack of purpose.
Our Father has given us time, talents & treasures to invest on His behalf. Are we wielding them to grow His portfolio or are simply for using the means & forgetting about the end?
So I close with 2 questions:
1) What’s your aim-what’s your end goal with the means you have?
2) What happens when you arrive -will you be satisfied eternally?
Father, help us to be as shrewd like the manager with YOUR time, talents & treasures! We choose Your aim over ours any day! Use everything we have, invest it all for Your Kingdom portfolio! We want to wield it all in such a way that we’ve “gained” many people who will meet us in heaven once we’ve met our “end” 😉
JOSHUA 7:16-9:2
LUKE 16:1-18
PSALM 82:1-8
PROVERBS 13:2-3
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