Restoring People with Eternal Riches

This week's Bible reading from the gospel Luke 16:1-13, also called the Parable of the Unjust Manager, could be easily misunderstood but depending on its' interpretation, can be a rich spiritual resource. A resource especially when we are dealing with the problems that occur when we are not caring for, as best we can, the gifts that God gave to us and depended on us to be good stewards of them.

When we mismanage God's gifts to us, we should start to feel a tearing away of our close relationship with God. We've fallen, but our love for God should lead us to get back up and seek God's will for us again. We may have strayed, but our desire to be right with God should cause us to run back to the path that God was walking together with us concerning how we will use the blessings we've been given for God. When we turn away from our mismanaging of God's riches, we reconnect with the only One who has given us life and wholeness.

If we don't get back up and look into God's face again or run back to the right path we were traveling together with God eventually we'll suffer a break in our relationship with God. Mainly because after discovering our mistakes we compounded our situation by choosing money, possessions, and power over God who has maintained the only source we have of constant and unconditional love. We can't equally serve both God and worldly riches with its perks, which is an idol god.

Most of us know right from wrong, but we may not actually know if we have unknowingly participated in beliefs or actions that are widely practiced by us, and other people who may have influenced our habits for gaining and retaining wealth that have, in some way or another, diminished others' way of living as part of its' practice.

Please read the Parable of the Unjust Manager and look for the ways that Jesus illustrated that we might be mismanaging some of God's gifts to us meant for blessing and restoring people in this world.