Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Father, make me wise in the way I use the many blessings you have lavished upon me. Make me a conduit of your blessings. Help me find ways to put your resources entrusted to me to work in building your Kingdom and blessing those you would bless. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Jesus said to his followers, "Once there was a rich man. This rich man hired a manager to take care of his business. Later, the rich man learned that his manager was cheating him. So he called the manager in and said to him, 'I have heard bad things about you. Give me a report of what you have done with my money. You can't be my manager now!' Later, the manager thought to himself, 'What will I do? My master is taking my job away from me! I am not strong enough to dig ditches. I am too proud to beg. I know what I will do! I will do something so that when I lose my job, other people will welcome me into their homes.' So the manager called in each person that owed the master some money. He said to the first man, 'How much do you owe my master?' The man answered, 'I owe him 8,000 pounds of olive oil.' The manager said to him, 'Here is your bill. Hurry! Sit down and make the bill less. Write 4,000 pounds.' Then the manager said to another man, 'How much do you owe my master?' The man answered, 'I owe him 60,000 pounds of wheat.' Then the manager said to him, 'Here is your bill; you can make it less. Write 50,000 pounds.' Later, the master told the dishonest manager that he had done a smart thing. Yes, worldly people are smarter {in their business} with the people of their time than spiritual people are. "I tell you, use the things you have here in this world to make friends {with God}. Then, when those things are gone, you will be welcomed in that home that continues forever. If a person can be trusted with small things, then he can also be trusted with big things. If a person is dishonest in little things, then he will be dishonest in big things too. If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, then you will not be trusted with the true (heavenly) riches. And if you cannot be trusted with the things that belong to someone else, then you will not be given things of your own. "No servant can serve two masters at the same time. The servant will hate one master and love theother. Or he will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money at the same time." The Pharisees were listening to all these things. The Pharisees criticized Jesus because they all loved money. Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You make yourselves look good in front of people. But God knows what is really in your hearts. The things that people think are important are worth nothing to God.

Related Scripture Readings

"Don't save treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy treasures here on earth. And thieves can break into your house and steal the things you have. So save your treasure in heaven. The treasures in heaven cannot be destroyed by moths or rust. And thieves cannot break in and steal that treasure. Your heart will be where your treasure is.

Jesus looked at the man. Jesus felt love for him. Jesus said, "There is still one more thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have. Give the money to the poor people. You will have a reward in heaven. Then come and follow me."

Remember this: The person who plants little will harvest only a little. But the person who plants much will harvest much. Each person should give what he has decided in his heart to give. A person should not give if it makes him sad. And a person should not give if he thinks he is forced to give. God loves the person who gives happily. And God can give you more blessings than you need. Then you will always have plenty of everything. You will have enough to give to every good work. Like the Scriptures say, "He gives generously to the poor; his kindness will continue forever." God is the One who gives seed to the person who plants. And he gives bread for food. And God will give you {spiritual} seed and make your seed grow. He will make a great harvest from your goodness (giving). God will make you rich in every way so that you can always give freely. And your giving through us will make people give thanks to God.