THURSDAY, AUGUST 4
Scripture: Luke 16:1-9

Luke 16:1-9 says, “He also said to His disciples: ‘There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.” Then the steward said within himself, “What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have 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 master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” And he said, “A hundred measures of oil.” So he said to him, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.” Then he said to another, “And how much do you owe?” So he said, “A hundred measures of wheat.” And he said to him, “Take your bill, and write eighty.” So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.’ And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.” Here we find a steward who is wasting the master’s goods and forfeiting the call on his life. He is not walking in faith and believing God for provision but using manipulation in order to assure himself a supply. He tells every one of his master’s debtors when he finds out he is losing his position and begins to trade on his position by offering to accept half of what they are owed in order to gain favor after his authority is taken away. For a man who owed 100 measures of wheat he is told to change it to 80. 100 measures of oil he changed to a measure of 50. The master commended the unjust steward because he dealt shrewdly. He used money to gain advantage but it cost him an eternity in heaven. Though money manipulation seems to be rampant in our society today, we do not want to make that mistake. Can we trust God for the full measure of provision and can we maintain an honest stewardship before God? We can because Jesus did. He defeated the enemy and made it possible for us to walk before Him in integrity!