January 20, 2020
Luke 16:10-12
“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.  So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?  And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
New International Version (NIV)
I have a friend whom I trust.  When someone asked me about him, I said, “I would trust him with my wallet, I would trust him with my family and I would trust him with my life.”  I hope you have a friend like that!  Even more, I hope we are those kinds of friends.  They are hard to find and precious beyond measure.

 Luke starts this chapter with a peculiar story about the dishonest steward.  When he gets fired, he goes and rewrites his master’s contracts with people to forgive their debts.  They are so grateful to have debts reduced that they share money with him.  His master has to admit he is pretty shrewd.  Strange story to our ears.  Jesus is not telling us to “Go and do likewise,” but he does say that the children of darkness deal more shrewdly than the children of light.

Patterns in our lives repeat.  Think of it this way:  a person who cheats on their taxes is more likely to cheat on their spouse or to cheat in a business deal.  Cheating reveals something negative about our character.  Some may admire those who get away with cheating and deceiving.  Sometimes the truth is hard to discern.  Remember, though, we are children of light, not of darkness.  For us the end never justifies the means.  We don’t try to get good results using deceitful methods.  Eugene Peterson calls for a purification of the means we use to accomplish our objectives.  If Jesus is our truth then he should also be our way.   We can trust Jesus with our wallets, our families and our lives.  He never fails. 

Are we trustworthy?  If God can trust us with a few things, then he will trust us with even greater things.  Let’s be friends that God can trust.  Because trustworthy friends are hard to find and precious beyond measure.
Pray with me:       
Father, we trust you today.  All that you have done reveals that your character is above reproach.  Help us to trust you with all that we have.  God make us trustworthy servants.  We renounce deception and deceitful methods.  The world may congratulate those who gain wealth by taking advantage of others.  Renew us by transforming our minds so that we see all of life through the lens of the kindness and goodness of your Son Jesus, in whose name we pray.  Amen.  
Join us in memorizing the Word.  Scripture for this week:    
Matthew 5:7-8
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan.  Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG 
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week.  In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year.  Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter (also found at REPLICATE.ORG). Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.  
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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