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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1538270
B V O V : 2 3 For many of us, this takes a mind shift. Jesus knew that was the case, and that's why He told a parable to show us the purpose of money—and the priority it shouldn't have in our lives. That parable is found in Luke 16: "And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward" (verses 1-2). This steward had obviously not been doing a good job when it came to watching over the goods and money of his rich employer, and he was given a good, old-fashioned audit. Read verses 3-8: Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the rst, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely. The employer commended his steward for understanding that he could use his position to prepare for his future. Verse 9 reveals the takeaway: "Here's the lesson: Use your worldly resources to bene t others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home" (New Living Translation). In other words, on earth you're to use your money to be a blessing to others and to interrupt their misfortunes. If you do, when you get to heaven, there will be people coming to you, grateful for what you did. Money: No Big Deal But the lesson didn't end there. In verse 10, Jesus added, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much" (emphasis mine). Did you catch that? Jesus called money "that which is least." When you use your faith in the area of money, you are using your faith in the smallest area of the kingdom of God. Money is not a big deal. You might say, "You could have fooled me!"…but that's the point, isn't it? You're taking something that's small to the Lord and you're making it bigger than what it is. This is important, because Jesus says if you can't Give Yourself a Spiritual Audit HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND THINKING ABOUT MONEY? Probably more than you care to admit. This may surprise you, but it's also probably more than God wants you to think about it. God wants us to use money as a tool to bless others—all the while keeping it at the bottom of our list of things we care about. by Crefl o Dollar