Attitudes
by Ruth Olsen
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Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much (Luke 16:10a).
Read Luke 16:1–13
Jesus was teaching his disciples something deeper in this tricky story of a manager who was wasting his master’s wealth. Those were large quantities that the debtors owed the master. They would have been happy to have the debt halved. The manager had his own agenda for these debtors to owe him when his job finished. On hearing this, the master commended the manager for acting shrewdly.
Generally, the attitude of the world and of fallen human nature is: ‘What’s in it for me?’ Wheeling, dealing and manipulating happen in that pursuit. That’s the way of the world. In contrast, people of light seek to be honest, truthful and trustworthy, not manipulating others nor using dishonestly what has been placed in their care.
But do we wisely use the worldly wealth that God has placed in our care? After all, we are managers who will be asked to account for what we have done with what we have been given. By helping those in need, people will be blessed and can, in gratitude, pass the blessing on to others in the future. It’s like ‘paying it forward’, blessing someone so that they can also bless others. This sharing of worldly wealth carries something eternal, something of God’s character that blesses and uplifts.
Do we even think about using our worldly wealth for eternal purposes to bless others? No matter what we do, we cannot serve both God and money. Either we pursue God and his ways that bless others, or, in our blindness, our pursuit of money leaves us frazzled and empty.
God knows our hearts better than we do. It requires courage and trust to ask God to search our ‘heart attitudes’ regarding our use of worldly wealth he has placed in our care. His ways carry eternal life and blessing. Money cannot satisfy our deepest needs. Let’s be shrewd enough to seek the Lord’s ways of using what he gives us to bless others also.
Father, open our ears, eyes and hearts to ways you desire to bless others through what you have placed into our care. Thank you! Amen.
Because of Ruth’s autoimmune disorder that attacked her kidneys, she and her husband, Steen, have been trained this year in using peritoneal dialysis at home at night. Ruth says this was a very steep learning curve! Other underlying health issues are now also being treated, giving a new lease of life that still needs to be paced. Praise God!
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