I know you remember when Covid came into our lives, and every-
thing shut down. Maybe you remember when we were finally able
to go back to Church, we sat masked and far apart. We would
have baskets out front so people could drop off their offertory.
One Sunday, I overheard someone say, “Yea, I see they still want
my money.” I was kind of taken aback by the comment. Money is
a challenging subject to talk about for people. Still, it’s extremely
important to God that we understand you cannot serve both mon-
ey and God. With that said, please do not shoot the messenger.

Did you know that the words money and possessions are the sec-
ond most referenced topic in the Bible – the word money is men-
tioned more than 800 times. Why do you think that is? Whether
you have money or not, it is a great learning tool for God to teach
us.

It says in 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?

Worldly wealth is the money we make in today’s world, and true
riches are what awaits us in heaven. You’ve heard people say you
might as well spend it because you can’t take it with you. After
understanding this Scripture, that may not be necessarily true. No,
we can’t buy our way into heaven. We get into heaven by believ-
ing in God and knowing that Jesus is His son who died for our
sins on the cross. That’s how we get into heaven, but what deter-
mines our position when we get there? People may say it’s our
good deeds, well, in a way, but not all of it. If the word money is
mentioned so many times in the Bible, how important do you
think it is to God that we understand it?

Let’s back up and look at the dishonest manager in Luke 16. This
man was trying to save himself, and the way he went about it was
very shrewd. He bargained with the people that owed his master
money, and he bargained and lowered prices that were not his to
lower. Even the master praised him for his shrewdness. It says in
Luke 16:8, “The master commended the dishonest manager be-
cause he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are
shrewder in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the
light.

We are the people of light, and we are usually not as shrewd-
minded as people of this world. He bargained because he saw no
other way to save himself than to lower the prices, so when he
was out of a job, they would have to hire him because they were
an accomplice in what he did. Even Jesus follows this up by say-
ing in Luke 16:9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for
yourselves so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eter-
nal dwellings.

This doesn’t mean we buy friends, it means to put your money
into things that will share the gospel, so when you get to heaven,
those people will welcome you with open arms and thank you for
what you did for them by bringing them into the eternal dwelling.
Who says you can’t take it with you? God wants to reward us for
spreading His gospel all over the world. Many people are doing
that today. Let’s just make sure we are part of it. Remember,
there’s a place waiting for you in heaven. How well will you be
received when you get there?

~~Barb Novad