Prove Yourself Trustworthy.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. – Lk. 16:10 NIV

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Jesus Christ had just provided a teaching to the Disciples and by inference to all Christians on the need to use wealth shrewdly. In that teaching, he highlighted how the children of world were acting shrewdly with regards to things concerning them wondering why the children of light could not act in such a manner so as to receive a good welcome into eternal home which is heaven – Lk. 16:1-9.

He went further in his teaching to make it clear that all the worldly wealth that anyone, especially the Christian possesses has been entrusted to him/her to be used achieve the intention and desire of the Almighty God on earth – Matt. 25:14-30. The possessed wealth is not the property of the one that has it or his/her entitlement and its mismanagement could deprive such and individual of access to whatever wealth such may have accumulated or entitled to in the eternal home. In a very clear manner he asked the twin questions;

1. Who will trust you with true riches if you have managed earthly wealth in an untrustworthy manner? – Lk. 16:11
2. Who will give you property of your own if you have mismanaged someone else’s property? – Lk. 16:12.

In a conclusive manner, he sees the challenge of the Christian who is mis-managing earthly wealth as the inability of such to decide to yield to the desires of the Almighty God rather than making the love of earthly wealth the governing principles of living – Lk. 16:13. No wonder the Pharisees whom the Bible says, loved money jeered at him in a self justifying manner but he was quick to let them know that all that man rates high is nothing before the Almighty God – Lk. 16:14-15. Earthly possessions remain very temporary and of no value if not used to ensure a more comfortable reception in eternity – Lk. 16:9.

Many Christians today are languishing in poverty as they may have been found untrustworthy, even on this earth, in the manner in which they managed worldly wealth and the solution to their challenge will lie in their managing the wealth they currently possess in a manner that will glorify the Almighty God.

Some Christian may want to give the defence that they do not possess great financial resources or assets but such must be made to realise that the greatest earthly wealth is the wealth of life and good health. Whatever anyone may want to boast of having as earthly wealth is only possible because such an individual is alive and healthy. For the very wise one, health is wealth and the individual that is alive must make use of this great wealth in a manner that will improve the world and the people in it. The Almighty God in giving the wealth of life and good health to man desired that it be used to grow and replenish the earth – Gen. 1:28. A single wealthy individual cannot replenish the earth as it will require many people of resource to achieve this great desire of God. The one that hoards wealth or limits it to him/her self cannot be said to be utilising the wealth to achieve the desire of the one that entrusted it in the first place. To entrust the wealth to someone by the Almighty God is to assign a responsibility to someone for which the wealth is to be used for. In the case of the Almighty God, it is simply for the advancement of His interest, finito! He expects all who come into the world to ensure that they leave it better by their contribution in some way or the other. Every day and strength of the one who wants to be seen as trustworthy by the Almighty God must be spent attempting to achieve this great desire of the Almighty God. He did not give you life so that you can better yourself only and that includes all the other types of wealth that are associated with the one that is living and healthy. It is a gift that he entrusted to man with expectation that he/she will use it to achieve divine goals. Any other act outside this will constitute a waste of that resource, which is what the manager was accused of doing before his master – Lk. 16:1-2.

Many Christians there are today who are actually wasting the wealth that have been entrusted in them under the guise of several unacceptable excuses. It should be made clear to such Christians that what they have is not theirs or their entitlement. It is all Grace, that is unmerited favour and the one that bestowed this grace sees it as an investment and so is expecting a harvest. Being alive and healthy is not by right but a simple privilege from the one who owns life and death – Rev. 1:18. Wrong use of this wealth like in the case of one of the three servants who were giving talents, will attract severe penalties – Matt. 25:14-30. Jesus Christ questions how the Christian who has not managed wealth entrusted to him/her;

1. Expects to have true riches. Hidden in this question of Jesus Christ is the salient fact that whatever riches possessed in this realm is not even the true riches. Whereas the riches of this world including life, do not last as it is lost as soon as the individual departs this realm and transferred to others either willingly or not, the true riches are eternal and cannot be taken from such. They are permanent possessions of the owner.
2. Expects to have possession of what he/she is even entitled to. This is because there is no assurance that such will utilise the possession in a manner that can bring glory to the name of the Almighty God. The saints and angels who are presently in heaven are using their wealth to sing praises to the Almighty God (Rev. 7:1-12; Rev. 14:1-3) unlike those in Hell who are reserved for eternal damnation – Jude 1:6. What will be the advantage to the Almighty God if such is allowed to access eternal life and cannot be trusted to glorify his name – Lk. 16:10. He sees the mismanagement of the wealth you possess in this realm as act of dishonesty and that will make it impossible for Him to trust you with eternal riches.

Do not deny yourself, access to your heavenly reward because of your mismanagement of your earthly wealth. Use it wisely, shrewdly and in a trustworthy manner so that you can receive a warm welcome into eternal home and be able to access all those rewards that your Christian life has earned you. He entrusted you with his own wealth to be used for his glory. You will only access the promised reward of peace and eternal life if he finds you trustworthy. Use the earthly wealth He entrusted you with to expand His kingdom on earth and you will have been achieving His desire for giving you that wealth in the first place.  May God help you to do so in Jesus name. Amen.