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Am I Kingdom Shrewd?
I easily lose the gratitude that should be constant in my life, and decisive kingdom-focused living that should flow out of it. I often feel like I am subjected to an endless cycle of custom-designed disruptive events to remind me how I should be. The manager is accused of poor management (some versions say stealing) of his master’s possessions – and told that he is out of a job. This significant disruption drastically improves his shrewdness, and he immediately focuses on how he can best prepare for the inevitable. In his improved shrewdness he is even more dishonest – essentially robbing his master of 400 gallons of oil and 200 bushels of wheat to create good will for himself with his master’s debtors. Oddly enough, the master is so impressed by the manager’s shrewdness and decisive action that he praises the manager when he discovers what happened. As strange as this situation may seem, the point I take away is that when tried, the manager had complete clarity on what he had to do and acted without hesitation. Likewise, God wants us to be kingdom shrewd in our living, recognizing trials as refinement and so growing in Him, and maintaining the right focus and perspective on how we diligently manage or steward all that we have been given.
In a word – no.
I find myself wondering what happening to all of my time at the end of the week. Key word “my”. Where did the time go that I was going to use to pray? Where did the money go that I was going to give at church? Where did the time go where I was going to call friends just to see how they were and encourage where needed.
I know, to my own selfish needs. God does not deserve whatever we have left (if anything) after we take care of ourselves.
I want to put God first. It is my goal to make time for God instead of waiting to see what I have left.
Jesus followers stormed the world and held it until recently because we out-thought, out-loved, out-lived, and out-died the world. We better be about that now. We are supposed to be sheep only in disposition in regard to our Lord, but astute in dealing with the world. Laying down in green pastures is for God to do to us, and not us to do on our own. I personally think we need to be much more aggressive in our mission – I really appreciate Alan and the rest of the elders’ plan for taking Smyrna. The master praised the servant’s shrewdness, and Jesus sets it up as an example.
Interesting passage. It reminds me of the words of Jesus…”to be as shrewd as a serpent and gentle as a dove.” This fellow seemed to fulfill this. It shows me how much is gray in this world.Not everything is black and white. Shrewdness has a place. There seems to be right, wrong and shrewdness?????
To fully understand all that is going on here you must read the whole context of the passage.Luke 16:1-13.
I agree with Candy…every word.
Jay,
I, too, stay so caught up in the circumstances of my life that I loose sight of kingdom living. It’s hard to believe that I am loved by my heavenly Father in spite of me. Oh, how I wish I could stay focused and live in the joy of the Lord every minute of every day. I have never thought to pray for shrewdness – shrewdness in recognizing what has eternal value and what does not. I think life would have much less stress if I could – but then God works through my stresses to refine me. It’s like a puzzle, isn’t it? Only God knows how it works. Is that where faith kicks in?