Luke 16:4

New International Version (NIV)

I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their homes

For meditation

1. Has the Lord blessed you with material wealth? How are you using it?
2. Are you using your wealth for Kingdom purposes or for personal worldly pleasure?
3. Do you know that you’re a steward of God’s wealth and that He will demand accounting from you someday?
4. Remember the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31)? Do you remember the good time the rich man had with his wealth (19)?
5. Nothing wrong with having money and enjoying it. But, do you see how absorbed the man was in his riches and luxurious living that it became his only care and concern?
6. Didn’t he see Lazarus at his gate, covered with sores that had become lollipop for dogs (20)? Couldn’t the rich man have helped Lazarus?
7. Do you see how worldly wealth can blind people to everything around them? Do you realize how it makes them see nothing but themselves and the shine and show they always put on?
8. If the rich man had cared a little about the plight of others, wouldn’t he have seen Lazarus with dogs licking his sores? If he had a little concern for the suffering, how could he have missed the opportunity to help him (Eph. 5:15-17)?
9. But, do you see how powerful the love of money is (1 Tim. 6:10)? Do you see how it blinds people and plunges them “into ruin and destruction” (9)?
10. Do you see how well the rich man in the parable illustrates this danger of having riches without godliness (Lk. 16:22-23)? Couldn’t he have been prudent with the use of his wealth while on earth? Was that not the thrust of the Parable of the Shrewd Manager (1-9)?
11. Do you see how the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus illustrates the point Jesus made in the Parable of the Shrewd Manager?
12. Do you know who makes the difference? Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Will He not give you His Spirit to make you wise for heaven’s sake?

I pray you will thank the Lord for blessing you with abundant wealth and the privilege of enjoying it (Eccl. 5:19). He desires for you to ask Him for wisdom to use it with a heavenly perspective. That’s how you glorify Him.

So, be discerning and “Honor the Lord with your wealth” (Prov. 3:6).

Shalom