From the parable of ‘Unrighteous steward’, we see, Luke 16: 10-12, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?’ How is our faithfulness and commitment to our God, in small areas of our lives?
From the parable of ‘The Lost Sheep’, from Luke 15:1,2, ‘Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”’ We see the tax collectors and the sinners were coming ‘near’ to Him, to listen to Him but on the other hand, the Pharisees and the scribes were ‘grumbling in their heart’. Jesus is speaking to them, through parables. In these parables, we see, there is sin, repentance and joy in them. We notice that, He is going after the ‘lost sheep’ but He is not going after the ‘lost son’. The son realized he is lacking something and he went back to his house. Specifically in Luke chapter 16, we can see that He is saying to the disciples, ‘Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. “And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ “And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ “And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much’ We see here about, ‘a dishonest steward’.
Are we faithful with the wealth that God has given us? wealth in terms of money, the opportunities we are getting in our lives – in terms of, sharing God’s Word to others. In order to be accepted by others, this shrewd man was planning in advance. God gave us much wealth and time. Are we faithful or are we squandering the wealth, God gave us? Are we spending our time in a better way, are we careful in spending every penny provided by God? If not, we are ‘unfaithful’ We are accountable to God. ‘“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”’ How are we utilizing these?
1 Chronicles 29: 1-16, ‘ Then King David said to the entire assembly, “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for the LORD God. “Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance. “Moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple,’ David is praying to God saying, ‘ “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.’
Everything God has given, belongs to Him and we need to take, good care of them, we need to submit everything, including our life and time to Him. David prays, ‘“O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours.’ We need to be faithful in the time, money and in everything that God has given us.
In the parable in Luke 16, the shrewd manager was praised for his shrewdness. Like him, we need to take the opportunity to serve God. We see the opportunity the shrewd manager got, ‘“And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly;’ The manager was praised, because he acted shrewdly here, making use of the opportunity, where he had time. ‘for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.’ Let us also take this opportunity, be more faithful to our Lord – at workplace, at home, at the responsibilities that we have in our Church. The opportunities, where we can share God’s Word with others or lift others with Word, in terms of money, help those in need – in acts of sharing, talking to Sunday school children, talking to them and encouraging them. There are many brothers and sisters who need our help, those who are alone, who are bachelors, are we utilizing our time or money or whatever is needed, to encourage them? – are we faithful in doing all these? God gave us so much, we need to manage properly with these, if not we cannot receive the true riches, which God eagerly wants to give us.
Daniel 1:7,8, ‘ Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. 8But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.’ We see clearly that; Daniel took a stand here. If we take a stand for our God like Daniel. We see over a period of time; God gave amazing revelations to him regarding the end times. Verse 11 onwards, ‘But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. “Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.”So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables. As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s personal service. As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm. And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king. Daniel was faithful to God. When he was taken captive, he did not choose to eat the king’s choice food or the wine but he took a strong stand, not to defile himself. We see that, God is helping Daniel and his friends.
Daniel 10:12, ‘Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.’ Daniel was coming to God for the interpretations of visions and dreams and God was helping him.
Daniel 6:3-4, ‘Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.’ An extraordinary Spirit was upon Daniel. Just because, he took a strong stand for God. verse 4, ‘Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.’ There was no negligence or corruption in him. Is there a responsibility or negligence, or a passion, a longing in our heart to do God’s will in our lives? Verse 5, ‘Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.”’
We see in all these things if we are faithful in small areas, God will bless us and will give us heavenly riches.
In the parable of talents, Matthews 25:14-26, ‘ “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. “To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. “Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.’ We see here, the faithful slave and an unfaithful slave. The faithful ones, traded with what they had and gained more. Are we submitting everything to the Lord? “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. “The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; If we are faithful in little things, God will give us an abundance. But if we are unfaithful, ‘but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away’. We need to be faithful in everything that we received, from the Lord. ‘“Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ This is the very sad state, if we don’t utilize things faithfully.
Ephesians 5:14-17, ‘For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.” Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.’ Clearly, we see here, that we need to rise, awake, if we are unfaithful, let us come with a repentant heart, needy heart, to our Lord. Try to utilize our time in whatever ways, we are getting, as the days we are getting are evil. ‘So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.’ We need to renew our mind and understand what the will of the Lord is, in this world and we need to be faithful.
1 Corinthians 4:1-3, ‘ Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.’ We need to be trustworthy and God will make us trustworthy and God is able to give us many riches, but we need to be honest, faithful stewards, with all our hearts.
2 Corinthians 4:4-6, ‘ in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Those who are unbelieving, are not able to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.’ This is the true treasure – seeing the glory of God, every day of our lives and growing in the knowledge of God. God gave us light in our hearts. We need to see that, the light is burning in our hearts, every day of our lives. Whether the love towards our God, the passion towards our God, the desire to fervently follow our Lord.’ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;’ This treasure in earthen vessels is that, the treasure of seeing the glory of our Lord in our earthen vessel. We know that, the water in earthen vessels gets evaporated slowly. In the same way, in our flesh also, if we are not filling up our hearts with love and the light which God gives, if we are not growing in the knowledge of our God daily, then there is a tendency that, this treasure will go away from us and slowly, slowly, we become unfaithful to our God. The power is from above only. we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.’ When we take this seriously, this dying of Jesus in our body, constantly, then the life of Jesus will be manifested in our body, every day.’ So death works in us, but life in you.’ If we are dying in our flesh, somebody will get life. God wants them also to be His. If we are not growing in the wealth given to us, then the wealth provided to us will be taken away.
2 Corinthians 5:10, ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.’ We are accountable before God. Are we faithful, are we submitting our lives to God? because one day, we need to give an account to God for whatever we received and did we give glory to our God, for whatever He has given us.
2 Peter 1: 2-11, ‘seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.’ God has given us everything, For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature,
We need to claim these precious and magnificent promises, every day of our lives.
Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to show diligence, take an effort with the help of Holy Spirit. ‘For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.’
In these end times, we need to be more diligent, as God has called us, for specific purpose. We need to see, that these Christian virtues are adding up, every day of our lives. If we practice these virtues, we will never stumble. In this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will be abundantly supplied to us. Let us really submit our lives, to the Word. May God help us to be faithful, not squandering the wealth given by the master, the true riches. Let us die to our ‘self’ so that His life will be manifested in all areas of our lives.
Thank God for His Word.
