S - Luke 16
1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. 9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
O - Wow, I hope I get this observation right, I am sensing I have a new understanding of this parable that Jesus is telling his disciples. He is telling of a manager who is not doing such a great job. The master is about to discipline and take away all his authority, when the manager decides to act very shrewdly and forgive debts of those fellow managers which will bring him favor with them even if he gets fired. In the end the master gives praise to the unrighteous manager because he acted shrewdly. Then comes the warning that Israels leaders in that age Jesus was in would not act shrewdly in their case. I believe that Jesus was telling this to his disciples so they would not be like the Pharisees who had not been acting as unrighteous managers of God's people when Jesus came down to correct them. He will be replacing the leadership of God's people with his disciples, and the Pharisees didn't see it coming, and those who did didn't act as shrewdly as the unrighteous manager did.
A- The application for me is not to be arrogant that I am on the sides of the disciples and Jesus, but that I am more likely to act like Pharisees if I don't guard my heart seek Jesus, and follow the Holy Spirit. For me this does happen periodically I can think of times when I became confident in myself, or confident in my position, and have allowed my extreme discipline and high standards to take me too far in my leadership of my people. I recognize that it is good to have high standards, or understand the standards of God, but I must recognize all fall short and God's grace and love is sufficient to bridge the gap. For me my leadership I must also understand the high standard on which I desire us to operate, but so there is sufficient grace and love to bridge the gap between where we long to be and where we are.
P-dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for this morning's devotion and your revealing of this parable of the unrighteous servant. I believe Lord you were speaking directly to my heart as a follower of Jesus, and a leader of men. Lord help transform my mind and heart in this leadership role you have placed me in here at Puget Sound Naval shipyard, help me to lead like Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
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