He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And 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, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’—Luke 16:1-18

Jesus was always finding clever ways to teach his followers. And this story, in particular, is distractingly disturbing because Jesus appears to reward a consciously deceptive manager. But don't let the static of the story divert your attention from Jesus' core teaching. For the in the manager's desperation for survival, we discover he came to understand an important lesson about money that he failed to previously understand. He connected personally with the fact that money was not the real economy in his stewardship of wealth, power, property, and possessions—it was relationships. Relationships were the actual commodity, perhaps even more valuable than money itself. And while he was shrewd with someone else’s money, maybe his drive for survival revealed greater riches than he had previously known. Riches that were right at his disposal the entire time.

DO THIS: Don't miss the connection.

PRAYER: God, your truth is timeless and powerful. Help me see how the simple principles of your Word connect to my everyday life.