faithful in the little things

Scripture: Luke 16:1-14: And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors [unto him], and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true [riches]?And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.


Observation: At first it appears that Jesus is commending the steward for stealing from his master. However, as I understand the concept of stewardship in that day, the steward was entitled to do whatever he wanted to with the masters resources. The master's recourse, was to do as he did, and remove the steward's authority. Jesus used this concept of stewardship in other places for illustrations. It is liken to our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our lives are his, but he gives us full control of them and we are authorized to do whatever we want with them. But ultimately we will give an account to the master for our lives. The closest thing we have in our culture is a lease.

Application: Jesus is teaching us that we need to be mindful that our lease on life will be called. There is an end, and when that day comes we will give account for the things we have done. We need to be faithful in the little things, as well as the large.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for the gift of life that you have given us. Let us savor and live life to the fullest for you. Help us to keep our eyes focused on you, and let us be about your business. Let us use the resources you have given us for your business, and not our own.