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Daily Radio Bible Podcast
Reading Reflections with Hunter Week 2 https://youtu.be/LnEfwjAyYzA
Are You Persuaded?
Genesis 39 - 41 and Luke 16
Are you persuaded that there is eternal significance to life? Are you persuaded that there is more than we see with our eyes? Are you persuaded that we have a need for redemption and the forgiveness of sins? Are you persuaded that we are in need of power outside of ourselves, to live this life? Are you persuaded? If not, why not?
Don’t let the riches of this world blind you and sell you short, fooling you into thinking that this is all there is. Don’t let the riches of this world cast their soul-numbing spell on you. Don’t be fooled. You can’t have an affair with money and still be married to God. You can’t love both. Jesus says,
No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. (Lk 16:13 NLT)
Jesus tells us this strange story. He says that the trick is to be shrewd with your resources, in this world. Don’t be blinded by them. Jesus tells us that the lesson from this odd story is to use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they, your friends, will welcome you to your eternal home.
There’s a connection here between this story of the shrewd manager and the parable of Lazarus. I think Lazarus, poor Lazarus, was shrewd, in the end. He made friends with Father Abraham and when he left this world, where do we find him? We find him right next to Abraham. It appears that he had made friends in the world to come. He, like Abraham, lived a life of faith. He was shrewd. He wasn’t in love with money. Instead, he was trusting in God. In his poverty he held onto God’s promise, believing that God was faithful to those who trusted in Him. God wanted his heart and he knew it. So Lazarus heeded the warnings of Moses and the Prophets. Riches didn’t blind him to his need for God. No, he knew he needed God every day of his life. In his poverty he was well aware that he needed God. So you might say that he was shrewd, because he arranged his life as one who lives by faith, trusting in God - that there is more to this life than what we see.
There’s more to this life than acquiring a bunch of ‘things’. We’re going to have to give an account for our life. One of the most tragic things that we can experience is to come to the end of it all and realize that somehow we’ve been blinded. We can allow our own pride, possessions, and successes to blind us to our need for God. We can fail to heed the words of Moses or the Prophets, or this parable of Jesus. The invitation is for us to come to him.
Put the resources that God has given you, to use for him. Recognize that they all come from him. Riches and resources make a great servant but a lousy master. We can only serve and love one master. Make sure that master is God.
Are you persuaded that there is more to this life than the accumulation of things and what you can see? In this life, we you in need of redemption, the forgiveness of sin, and the power to live a life beyond yourself? Are you persuaded or are you blinded by the lure of the riches of this world?
Let’s make sure we are living shrewd lives of faith, using our resources as tools and servants to our one and only, true Master. Then, we will find strength and hope and courage to meet each day, and eternal life, in the world to come. Serve your one Master with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Be shrewd with all he has given you and make friends with others who are hungry for God’s Good News.
You are loved!
