Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Father, I pray for a wise mind, an open heart, and a generous spirit as I use the financial blessings you have placed in my care. Guard me from greed, materialism, and covetousness. Help me see the way you want me to use my blessings for your Kingdom's work. Most of all, dear Father, please let nothing have a hold on my life other than my love for you, your Kingdom, and your righteousness. In Jesus' name I pray. 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

When Jesus heard this, he said to the leader, "But there is still one more thing you need to do. Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor people. You will have a reward in heaven. Then come and follow me!" But when the man heard this, he was very sad. The man was very rich {and wanted to keep his money.} When Jesus saw that the man was sad, he said, "It will be very hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God! It would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!" When the people heard this, they said, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus answered, "God can do things that are not possible for people to do!"

Give this command to the people who are rich with the things this world has. Tell them not to be proud. Tell those rich people to hope in God, not their money. Money cannot be trusted. But God takes care of us richly. He gives us everything to enjoy. Tell the rich people to do good. Tell them to be rich in doing good things. And tell them to be happy to give and ready to share. By doing that they will be saving a treasure for themselves {in heaven}. That treasure will be a strong foundation —their future life can be built on that treasure. Then they will be able to have the life that is true life.

Don't trust the power to take things by force. Don't think you will gain anything by stealing. And if you become rich, don't trust your riches to help you.