10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
~Luke 16:10-14
Through human eyes we distort the truth. We look through temporary lenses at temporary wealth and declare it the be all and end all of life. God’s economy sees the wealth of this life as trivial. True wealth isn’t filtered out at the grave. It doesn’t decay — ever.
We think we can divide our attention. Work hard at making money and “getting by” while giving our weekends and even some evenings to service in the church.
What is my real motivation?
Where are my sights really set?
Where are my treasures really stored?
Am I trustworthy and singularly focused on the eternal?
Honestly, I sometimes struggle with the proper balance here. Obviously God does not call us to neglect our children’s (or our own) physical needs. He most likely does not call me to live without shelter and rely on other’s generosity for food and clothing. Yet, we spend a lot of life providing those things for ourselves. Most husbands and many wives put 40 plus hours a week into just making money to pay the bills. We do need to work.
I think the fulcrum will find a different location for everyone. And, God likes to push us when we start to get comfortable. Asking the rich young ruler to sell everything. Likely he would have responded the same if Christ had asked him to just give up a week’s pay. Jesus knew his heart.
Jesus knows my heart. He knows what I have yet to give, what He still needs to pry my fingers off of. He keeps working patiently, pointing out where He is not yet first, where I have yet to surrender fully.
Economics 101. He keeps reteaching until I get it.
Erin, 5intow
Sixty-six books in a year 