Scripture
Vs 10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
Vs 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?
Vs 13 No servant can serve two masters … “You cannot serve God and money.”
Vs 15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Observation
Jesus tells a parable about a servant’s loyalty.
But this person is loyal, or faithful, to his own wants over his master’s commands.
He reinforces that everyone will have an ultimate loyalty … a master.
And there is no such thing as a shared ultimate loyalty … or serving two masters.
Your master will be God … or something else, likely money, but not both.
The servant thinks they are making things right in their world by prioritizing their monetary wants.
Ultimately, they only have appearances of being right … “justified before men”.
And true loyalties will be revealed … “God knows the heart”.
Application
What do I prioritize? … My external circumstances or my internal faithfulness?
What do I place higher value on? … “wealth” or “true riches”?
My day to day decisions will reveal this … Where is my faithfulness?
I’m fascinated by Jesus’ statement, “You cannot serve both God and money.”
It seems a bit of a disconnect at first.
The more likely way I would complete the statement would be …
“You cannot serve both God and the devil.”
Or, “you cannot serve both God and evil.”
Or, “You cannot serve both God and sin.”
But Jesus juxtaposes God and money!
This should be a stark warning to me of the extreme danger, risk, temptation that is money.
It can actually pull me away from God.
And Jesus teaches us to pray against temptation.
Yet, how easy it is to pray for better situational circumstances that I think will get better with … money.
And it’s so easy to think, once this situation is taken care of, then I can do that for God.
Or if only this wasn’t going on in my life, then I could serve God more.
What terrible thinking.
The very way I serve my Master is in the midst of the circumstances and situations that I may want to alleviate.
I will only do this, though, if my heart is right.
I can’t seek to make things look good circumstantially when I’m actually being unfaithful.
I can’t seek to look good “before men”, when “God knows the heart”.
I must be faithful now “with a little”, to be entrusted eternally with “true riches”.
Prayer
Thank you, God, for your word
Help me see you as not only Lord and Master
But as true riches
Help me see with an eternal perspective
And convict me Holy Spirit when I am tempted
Lead me in faithfulness
In Jesus name
Amen