Monday, February 23,
2015, 5:45 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “My Sheep.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 16:1-9 (NASB).
The Parable
This passage of scripture begins with a parable of a rich
man who had in his employ a manager who squandered the rich man’s possessions,
so the rich man called him to account for his actions. He told the man that he
could no longer be his manager. The manager was, thus, befuddled as to what he
should do next. So, he devised a plan to endear himself to his neighbors and
friends in hope that they would invite him into their homes. For each one of
them he reduced the debt they owed the rich man. The rich man, astoundingly,
actually praised “the unrighteous manager because he acted shrewdly” in his
dealings with the rich man’s debtors, because he knew the manager had done so
in order to secure some future provision for himself, or so he thought.
Evidently it was the craftiness of the man that the rich man commended, and not
the manager’s actions themselves, for the manager did an injustice to the rich
man by reducing the debt owed him by his neighbors and friends.
Jesus
then said, “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the
wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into
the eternal dwellings.”
Given a Trust
I admit that this parable is a little troublesome to me, and
that I find it difficult to comprehend, so I pray for understanding. Yet, Jesus
chose to use this parable to teach a lesson, and the intended recipients of the
lesson appear to be the Pharisees, though it certainly applies to all people.
The point of the lesson seems to be that we have all been given a trust. All of
humankind has been given the earth, the creatures of the earth, life, and the
knowledge of God within our hearts, for which we are responsible to give care
and to manage properly. All believers in Jesus Christ have been given salvation
from sin, the Holy Spirit within us, the Word of God, gifts of the Spirit,
assignments (parts) within the body of Christ, and the promise of heaven and
eternal life with God. And we, too, are responsible to manage well what God has
given to us, and to bring a good return for God’s investment in our lives in entrusting
all of this to us.
Unfaithful in Service
Yet, some of us have been unfaithful in managing what has
been entrusted to us. Many have not believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
of their lives, i.e. they have not given their hearts and lives to God even
though the knowledge of God has been placed within them (See Romans 1). Many of
those who know God, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, or who
profess to know God, have been unfaithful in their commitments to our Lord
Jesus, for they have not or they are not leaving their lives of sin behind
them, they have not truly turned to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience, and
they have not humbled themselves before God in being his willing servants in
doing what he has called us to do. They are busy living for themselves or are
just plain lazy, self-centered, selfish, distracted or otherwise occupied with
other things other than living for Jesus Christ and being his servants.
The Confrontation
So, God is saying to us, “What have you done with what I
have given to you?” To some he may be saying that, because of their
unfaithfulness, they must be removed from this earth, and that they do not have
the promise of heavenly rewards. To others he may be saying that he must remove
them from managing his affairs until they repent of their sin, until they
choose to no longer squander what has been entrusted to them, and until they
decide to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and to serve the Lord with
faithfulness. To others of us he may be pointing a finger on particular areas
of our lives where we are weak in being faithful and where we need to yield to
the Lordship of Christ. All in all we must all have to answer this question as
to what we have done with what we have been given.
Acting Wisely
The point, I believe, that we are to receive from this
parable is not only that we should evaluate and examine our own lives,
admitting our sin of unfaithfulness, but that we should act wisely in doing
what is required and necessary for us to make provision for our future, but not
in our own flesh, or in deceptiveness or craftiness, but according to the truth
of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of scripture (of Jesus and the
apostles). In other words, when confronted with the knowledge that we have been
unfaithful to the trust God has given to us, and when we are warned of the
consequences of such unfaithfulness, we should act wisely by humbling ourselves
before God, repenting of our sin, and by submitting to the Lordship of Christ
in now doing what he has called us to do in being his faithful and wise
servants in following him wherever he leads us from this point forward.
My Sheep / An Original Work /
June 24, 2012
Based
off John 10:1-18 NIV
My
sheep hear me. They know me.
They
listen to my voice and obey.
I
call them and lead them.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
They
will never follow strangers.
They
will run away from them.
The
voice of a stranger they know not;
They
do not follow him.
So,
I tell you the truth that
I
am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever
does enter
Will
find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless
whoever enters
Not
by the gate; other way,
He
is the thief and a robber.
Listen
not, the sheep to him.
Oh,
I am the Good Shepherd,
Who
laid his own life down for the sheep.
I
know them. They know me.
They
will live with me eternally.
The
thief only comes to steal and
Kill
and to destroy the church.
I
have come to give you life that
You
may have it to the full…
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
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