Scripture
Now he said to the disciples: “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions. So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you?
~Luke 16:1-2, CSB
Quote
The first principle of faithful stewardship is to realize that everything belongs to God.
~Ya’akov
I can’t adequately express the joy I am experiencing as I read the CSB and to think, I did not enjoy the first week or so but the last few days have been awesome. I had to stop reading a few days ago and pray because my cup was running over. I love God’s amazing incredible word. As I was preparing for last Sunday’s message entitled, “What In Hades Does The Church Need?” I read the previous verses in Luke 16 just to check the context. Practically all of Luke 16 is about STEWARDSHIP. Jesus told the story of the RICH MAN IN HADES for the benefit of the Pharisees who loved money [v.14] and made fun of Jesus story about the unjust or unfaithful manager or steward. Notice if you will the possessive pronoun ‘his’. The man in question had wasted another man’s money. The first key to good stewardship is to UNDERSTAND–everything belongs to the LORD. Sorry Charlie{the tuna}, you don’t have any money, titles or land. Oh I know, very few people believe what I just said and the Baptist Church is filled with Pharisees who scoff at such teaching even though it comes from Jesus. Someone told me just last week about a hypocrite who gave his son a nickel and told him to give it to the pastor who was standing at the exit after the service…this lost and ignorant man said to his son, “Go give this nickel to the preacher so he will stop begging for money.” I just hope someone tries that with me. What a FOOL! I would like to use another word other than fool but I will refrain.
What is the one factor that keeps any of us from being owners here on earth? The answer is death. A hundred years from now, you will own nothing in this world. Jesus makes it plain in Luke 16 that this life is a test. God’s gives us things to manage and we will be rewarded according to how we manage what He has placed in our hands. Have you noticed the conclusions Jesus draws after the story of the unjust steward:
- Worldly people are often more shrewd than we are in dealing with their own people. People who think like them.
- Eventually wealth fails. Jesus didn’t say “If it fails” but “When it fails.”
- If we are not faithful with earthly wealth, why should God trust us with eternal wealth?
- We cannot serve Jesus if our love for money is greater than our love for HIM.
This is not preacher talk: this is straight from the Master and we would do well to heed what He says. I’ve known only tow misers in my life time and unfortunately, I loved them both but I was totally unable to help them understand the above truths and it literally broke my heart. All misers end up miserable. I do not know of one exception. You can ignore Jesus’ teaching on money if you want to but in the end you will have some deep regrets. On the other hand, James Franklin Jarman, who began as a shoe salesman, founded his own company in 1924–the Jarman Shoe Company. Long story short, Jarman made a fortune in the middle of the last century. Some of you {one or two} can remember his stores in malls back in the 60’s and 70’s. Maxey, as he was affectionately known, loved Jesus. He was not only a Sunday School teacher, he was a firm believer in Christian Stewardship and gave millions to missions and ministry. Before Maxey was promoted in 1980, his company took a bad down term and Maxey fail from the ranks of the multi-millionaires. Some idiot approached him one day and said, “I bet you wish you had all that money you gave to the church back, don’t you.” Maxey hit him right between the eyes and knocked him out cold, I wish. No Maxey said calmly, “Oh no, that is what gives me comfort, I know where that money is.” God bless the poor idiots who don’t understand what Maxey was saying. Leonard Ravenhill said, “This silly world thinks they are through with Jesus. If they only knew the truth.”
- Nice cool day with clouds and all but no rain at 1120 Iron Man. We need a rain but I am not complaining or even anxious about it…I just love rain.
- Hot weather and all, the summer is flying by…BLOCK PARTY is less then three weeks away.
- Have a great day and thanks for reading the Blog.
