Day 77

Luke 16:10–15 (NIV)

¹⁰ “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. ¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³ “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.” ¹⁴ The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. ¹⁵ He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.

Pray for God to show you something to use from the passage

Read the Passage

Who is in the passage?

What action verbs do you see?

What other words stick out in your mind

Questions

Would God say you are trustworthy with what He has given you?

Is money in itself evil? What makes money evil?

How does God being your master apply to how you use your finances?

Notes

as if to make sure we don't get confused by the parable of Luke 16:1-9 Jesus quickly turns to telling what God values. And dishonesty as shown in the parable immediately before will not be rewarded no matter how clever. But that is not the main point Jesus makes in this section.

10-13 The main point deals with understanding money. Money from the Old Testament perspective is looked as not something you own but something that God gives you. It was and is never meant to be a end of its own. When you treat money as a and end then you are treating it like a god. The two do not mix. Money is meant to be used in honoring God. Hoarding it, excessive consumption of it, abusing others for it are all wrong. 12:33 states Jesus' views of money well. We attach TOO much importance to it and not to the things that last. Sort of like being caught up in playing Monopoly (fake wealth) when real wealth cannot come from playing with fake money. It has no value! Money has no value for God apart from what you do with it. If you use it faithfully from God's perspective then He can trust you with more important things (not necessarily money or things of this world) that have lasting eternal value.

But if you do not use your earthly wealth well how can God trust you with things that matter?

vs 14-15 We see one of the reasons that the Pharisees cannot see that Jesus is God. They have done what he said in vs 13.

We today can play the same game with money that the Pharisees did. We too can justify how we use it. It doesn't mean we use it in a way that honors God! This to me is one of the biggest things that Christians today struggle with. We need to develop God's perspective on money! The world blasts out as loud as it can that it is all about money. The truth is we are playing monopoly when we should be investing and working for treasures that last!

Am I living for fake wealth or real wealth? How does that show in my life?

vs 15 - detestable to God - Very strong statement. It is as strong of a rejection that can be expressed. Earthly wealth should be used to point to God's true wealth by helping others in need. To do anything else with wealth is without merit.

The Question becomes for us - How much is too much? When do we cross the line of using money as good stewards vs. treating it as a god ? How much savings is too much, how much house is too much, how many things are too much?

The argument about whether tithe still applies in the New testament to me is mute. The standard goes beyond 10% . If you love God more then it is not about what can I get away with giving and still be a good Christian. It is realizing that if God has blessed you with wealth then it needs to be used for his Glory, for showing the world that there is another world to prepare for. (See Luke 11:42, Matt 23:23-24)