Faithful With Little

Susanna Wesley was faithful with her little children, and her
two sons had an impact on the entire world. 

Scripture:

Luke 16:10   “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹ If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³ No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Observation:

This section comes right on the heels of the parable of the prodigal son, and the shrewd servant. It appears that this paragraph could serve as the conclusion to the two parables, for it compares two unique situations. 

The prodigal son was willing to come home and serve his own father. He offered himself in service to receive very little in return. As a result, the father wrapped him in his own robes, signifying his welcome back into the family, and an inheritance. True repentance would result in the riches of the father’s household. 

The manager was dishonest at every level. He continued his dishonesty through to the very end, without any sign of repentance. He was dishonest with small amounts and with great wealth. At least, he was consistent. 

Neale suggests that, “Integrity and loyalty are the best guides on the path of holiness in dealing with money (NBBC). Throughout this entire section, Jesus is trying to help the Pharisees see their own behavior in what he is teaching. They are the ones who are compromising with the masters of this world, the Roman Empire. At the same time, Jesus is teaching and mentoring the disciples. They are to find themselves in these parables as well. He is calling them to be singularly focused on serving only one master — Jesus! 

These disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus. There must have been temptations of the material sort along the way. Judas, the team treasurer certainly faced them. Others may have been tempted to use Jesus’ ministry for financial gain, thinking about ways to charge people for their time with Jesus, or different types of healing. Jesus had to teach them, while he was present, that there would be no such behavior or response. If he were to empower them with the Holy Spirit, they could not use that power to exploit others. They had to be faithful with little, before he could trust them with much. 

Application:

Jesus is still seeking disciples today who will wholeheartedly depend upon him for their lives. This begins with being faithful with very little. Not many people want to begin being faithful with little, but would like to step right up to major responsibilities. Not only do we see this in the church, but even in the business world. Entry level work is often seen as not worthy of our time and effort. However, many of us had to learn how to do work at an entry level before we could advance to more responsibility. 

As a teenager, I had a job at a fabric store in Overland Park, Kansas. I enjoyed that job because I liked to sew, but even better, my mother was a great seamstress. If my mother would sew for the store and put the clothing on display, we would get the pattern and fabric at a huge discount. I didn’t earn a lot of money on this job, but I did learn a great deal about responsibility. Eventually, I was given a key to the store. This was a really big deal because only the manger, assistant manager, and the “third girl” were given a key. Here I was, just a teenager, and they trusted me with the key, but that trust had to be earned. I had to arrive at work on time, do the work well, and respect those for whom I worked. All of these were lessons on which I would be able to build throughout my working life. I’m still learning, and still grateful for that teenage job. 

No matter where we find ourselves in life, we need to work hard, showing integrity and loyalty in dealing with money. Show the world that you have integrity in your own personal finances, and the world will entrust to you more responsibility. 

After the day of Pentecost the disciples engaged in huge miracles. They lived out their lives faithfully in the power of the Holy Spirit. These kinds of miracles are no longer commonplace. Could it be that we have not been faithful with little, so that God cannot give us much? This is a sobering thought. Far too often we want to get ahead of God. We want that bigger assignment, or the greater responsibility, but we don’t want to have to do the hard work to get there. Spiritually speaking, we want to see miracles, we want to live in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit, but we we don’t want to do the work to get to know the Lord in the fulness of his presence. 

We must begin by being faithful in the little things. We are to be faithful in that entry-level job. We are to be faithful in our personal finances. We are to be a people of integrity and honesty in financial dealings. We are to be faithful in that little church. We are to be faithful in our time with the Lord. We are to be faithful in the little ministry opportunities that we are given. Only after we have been faithful in little, can God entrust us with much. Slow down and take care of the little details, and God will gently lead you into the bigger picture. 

Prayer:

Lord, help me to be faithful today in the small details and encounters. Amen.