Scripture
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Observation
Jesus tells a story about a manager accused of wasting his master's possessions. The manager tries to work out what to do in case he loses his job. He calls in some debtors and gets them to mark down the size of their debts.

The master finds out about this and marvels at the audacity of the man and his creative accounting used to buy some friends.

Jesus says that anyone who is trusted with a little may be trusted with much, but a person who is dishonest with a little will be dishonest with much. Just as a servant cannot serve two masters, a person cannot serve both God and Money.

Application
This parable is one of Jesus' so-called hard sayings in that it seems to endorse dishonest practices. What Jesus is saying here is that the people of the world know how to use their money to buy influence and thus to advance thir own interests. Followers of Jesus should learn from them – if you have money then use it to buy influence for the Kingdom. We don't need to store up wealth because we have an eternal inheritance.

For everyone living in the world, there is a need for money and physical resources. The problem comes when we start to serve money rather than God, trusting our wealth and other resources to keep us secure rather than trusting our Father.

Prayer
Lord, thank you for the resources you have given me. Help me to use everything for your purposes and not to hold on to stuff. Amen.