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The clever asset manager (Luke 16:1-18), October 3, 2015

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Luke 16:1-18

Set – Ezra 6; Psalms 138; Luke 16

Go! – Ezra 5-6; Psalms 138; Luke 16

Luke 16:1-18
1 Here’s a parable He told the disciples:
Jesus: Once there was a rich and powerful man who had an asset manager. One day, the man received word that his asset manager was squandering his assets.
2 The rich man brought in the asset manager and said, “You’ve been accused of wrongdoing. I want a full and accurate accounting of all your financial transactions because you are really close to being fired.”
3 The manager said to himself, “Oh, no! Now what am I going to do? I’m going to lose my job here, and I’m too weak to dig ditches and too proud to beg. 4 I have an idea. This plan will mean that I have a lot of hospitable friends when I get fired.”
5 So the asset manager set up appointments with each person who owed his master money. He said to the first debtor, “How much do you owe my boss?” 6 The debtor replied, “A hundred barrels[a] of oil.” The manager said, “I’m discounting your bill by half. Just write 50 on this contract.” 7 Then he said to the second debtor, “How much do you owe?” This fellow said, “A hundred bales[b] of wheat.” The manager said, “I’m discounting your debt by 20 percent. Just write down 80 bales on this contract.”
8 When the manager’s boss realized what he had done, he congratulated him for at least being clever. That’s how it is: those attuned to this evil age are more clever in dealing with their affairs than the enlightened are in dealing with their affairs!
9 Learn some lessons from this crooked but clever asset manager. Realize that the purpose of money is to strengthen friendships, to provide opportunities for being generous and kind. Eventually money will be useless to you—but if you use it generously to serve others, you will be welcomed joyfully into your eternal destination.
10 If you’re faithful in small-scale matters, you’ll be faithful with far bigger responsibilities. If you’re crooked in small responsibilities, you’ll be no different in bigger things. 11 If you can’t even handle a small thing like money, who’s going to entrust you with spiritual riches that really matter? 12 If you don’t manage well someone else’s assets that are entrusted to you, who’s going to give over to you important spiritual and personal relationships to manage?
13 Imagine you’re a servant and you have two masters giving you orders. What are you going to do when they have conflicting demands? You can’t serve both, so you’ll either hate the first and love the second, or you’ll faithfully serve the first and despise the second. One master is God and the other is money. You can’t serve them both.
14 The Pharisees overheard all this, and they started mocking Jesus because they really loved money.
Jesus (to the Pharisees): 15 You’ve made your choice. Your ambition is to look good in front of other people, not God. But God sees through to your hearts. He values things differently from you. The goals you and your peers are reaching for God detests.
16 The law and the prophets had their role until the coming of John the Baptist. Since John’s arrival, the good news of the kingdom of God has been taught while people are clamoring to enter it. 17 That’s not to say that God’s rules for living are useless. The stars in the sky and the earth beneath your feet will pass away before one letter of God’s rules for living become worthless.
18 Take God’s rules regarding marriage for example. If a man divorces his wife and marries somebody else, then it’s still adultery because that man has broken his vow to God. And if a man marries a woman divorced from her husband, he’s committing adultery for the same reason.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Have you ever thought about My parable of the crafty asset manager? He cheated his boss, but in the process gained friends so he could at least get some sympathy if he was fired and maybe get a meal or two from those he helped. Some would call him dishonest and, in fact, he was. He was dishonest to his boss and dishonest to those who owed his boss money. But he found a way to make friends.

I’m not condoning dishonesty. I am asking you to think outside the box to figure out ways to make friends. The world thinks money is the answer. The clever asset manager figured out ways to ease the financial burden for some. He found ways to connect to people. His ways were unconventional, but he certainly got their attention. Perhaps there are unconventional ways you can link with people in your community to enable you to share My message with them.

No, I don’t want you to break My laws to do it. I still want you to obey My commands, but there are ways to reach people outside the conventional means to do so. What are their interests? What are their needs? What can you do to help meet those needs in ways that do not put them in jeapordy or you in violation of My laws? The asset manager actually had the authority to discount those bills. His boss didn’t criticize him for doing it because it was within his purview to do what he did.

Can you do the same within your authorities? Can you help others in ways that you might not think of immediately in your line of work or your daily routine? If making money is not your driving force, how can you use your activities to help others and show Christ today?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

There’s a party coming! (Luke 12:35-48), Jan 12, 2015

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Today’s background scripture comes from Luke 12:35-48


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Many around you will say, “There is plenty of time to get right with God. He said He was coming back 2,000 years ago and He hasn’t come back yet. I can always start living right next year.”

My Son told those who would listen a parable about masters who returned unexpectedly or thieves that came in the middle of the night. You probably don’t know much about masters and servants where you live. In Jesus’ time on earth, people understood the parable clearly. Perhaps today, I would use a story about a company owner or a store manager and his employees, instead.

How well does the assistant manager perform when the manager is on vacation? What does he find if he comes back early? Or you probably hear about thieves that break in and steal things a lot. Well, maybe that has become so common place you no longer hear much about it. But if the owner knew the time a thief were coming and convinced the police or his neighbors of his coming, the owner would prepare and the thief would not break in.

My Son said He would come back at a time only I know. It’s like the weddings in ancient Israel. Sons prepared a home for their bride and the marriage took place only after their father saw their son could care for his bride in his new home. My Son is still prepare a place for you. When I tell Him it is ready for you, I will tell Him to come and get you. Then He will split the sky like a lightening bolt and in the blink of an eye He’ll bring His bride home with Him forever.

You will never know when I send Him. He will come like the unexpected manager or the thief in the night. Like Jesus told those who listened to His parable 2,000 years ago, be ready, you don’t know when he’ll come. You don’t want to miss that party!

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Luke 12:35-48
Set – Genesis 29; Luke 12
Go! – Genesis 29-30; Luke 12

Luke12:35-48
Jesus: I’m not just talking theory. There is urgency in all this. If you’re apathetic and complacent, then you’ll miss the moment of opportunity. You should be wide awake and on your toes like servants who are waiting for their master to return from a big wedding reception. They’ll have their shoes on and their lamps lit so they can open the door for him as soon as he arrives home. 37 How fortunate those servants will be when the master knocks and they open the door immediately! You know what the master will do? He’ll put on an apron, sit them down at the kitchen table, and he’ll serve them a midnight snack. 38 The later he comes home—whether it’s at midnight or even later, just before dawn—the more fortunate the alert servants will be.

39 In contrast, imagine a complacent, apathetic household manager whose house gets robbed. If he had been aware that thieves were waiting in the bushes and what hour they were coming, [he would have watched and][a] he never would have left the house! 40 I’m trying to tell you that these are times for alertness, times requiring a sense of urgency and intensity, because like the master in the first story or the thief in the second, the Son of Man shows up by surprise.

Peter: 41 Lord, I’m not sure if this parable is intended only for us disciples or if this is for everyone else too.

Jesus: 42 Imagine the stories of two household managers, and decide for yourself which one is faithful and smart. Each household manager is told by his master to take good care of all his possessions and to oversee the other employees—the butlers, cooks, gardeners, and so on. 43 One servant immediately busies himself in doing just what he was told. His master eventually comes to check on him 44 and rewards him with a major promotion and with more responsibility and trust. 45 The other household manager thinks, “Look, my boss is going to be gone for a long time. I can be complacent; there’s no urgency here.” So he beats the other employees—the women as well as the men. He sits around like a slob, eating and getting drunk. 46 Then the boss comes home unexpectedly and catches him by surprise. One household manager will be fortunate indeed, and the other will be cut into pieces and thrown out.

47 Now if a servant who is given clear instructions by his master doesn’t follow those instructions but instead is complacent and apathetic, then he will be punished severely. 48 But if a servant doesn’t know what his master expects and behaves badly, then he will receive a lighter punishment. If you are given much, much will be required of you. If much is entrusted to you, much will be expected of you.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.