Home  Articles  Site map

"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?" (Lk.16:10,11). Faithfulness with money is a test God uses on us to see if we can be trusted with spiritual wealth. Money is what is referred to here as the 'very little thing' and the 'unrighteous wealth', compared to 'much' and 'true riches'. From this we can understand what is more important to God. From our point of view also, it should not be difficult to see what should be more important to us too. Obviously, money is not something we can carry with us to eternity. If we have been running after that all our life, we can see how that has landed us up in many snares, caused us to do unrighteous things, and robbed us of much spiritual wealth we could have gathered in that time (1Ti.6:8,9). What makes people run after money except greed and covetousness? On the other hand, what would lead us to be faithful with money? Being content with what we have.

Just do a little comparison. Imagine a man running after money and managing to accumulate a lot of it. Another man focussed on being faithful in the sight of God. In eternity, the second man will be 'wealthy' while the first man will be 'poor' even if he managed to reach heaven. But think of this also. The second man will be entrusted with spiritual insight and an anointed ministry even here on earth. I am talking about true anointing that touches and changes people's lives, and not something that impresses undiscerning people.

Is it only money we have to be faithful with? What about time that God has given us? In the parable of the 'minas' (Lk.19), ten people were given one mina each. One of them produced ten more, and another five, and they were also rewarded accordingly. Isn't this also a challenge for us to learn to use the time and opportunities that have been entrusted to us wisely and profitably, instead of 'enjoying' life and being lazy?

Many people are careful to ensure that other people have a good opinion about them, and their goal is to somehow impress others. But what about recognising that it is to God that we have to give an account for every detail of our life (Ro.14:12)? He is One who knows even the thoughts and intentions of our heart (He.4:12). Our task is to be faithful before God (Ge.17:1).

What value will such people have in God's eyes who have learned to be faithful? One day such people will shine with a godly glory (Da.12:3). One day the Lord will acknowledge openly that they are worthy of reward and fit to be entrusted with great responsibilities (Mt.25:21). Isn't it much more profitable to pursue that within the limited time and resources that God has given us, than to go after wealth, pleasure, fame, etc.? Is this God's wakeup call for His people, because the time is short.

Tweet