Notice very well the way this is stated. Lazarus was ‘left’ or ‘laid’ at the rich man’s gate. This poor fellow was obviously the victim of a malady that was not communicable. And, as such he was put in the place that he remained in much of the time. He was homeless. Likely his few friends had secured this spot for him.

We do not know if the rich man had anything to do with the placement of Lazarus, but they knew each other and the rich man was familiar with Lazarus’ predicament. He may even have felt himself very beneficent to allow this sore-covered fellow anywhere close to his home. Begging at this rich man’s gate at least provided for Lazarus a meager existence.

Heavenly Father, the material blessings that You give us are such a source of happiness for us. But when we think of spiritual blessings, the joy we can share with each other is boundless. Your grace, mercy, and love are endless. The wisdom, peace, patience, and endurance that we can gain from You are precious gifts. You are always new to us. Your ways and thoughts are so much higher than we realize. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

There has always been a debate about this rich man. Did Jesus have someone in particular in mind? Personally I think it is very likely He did. But in any case, there were any number of rich folks in His days that this could be about.

Jesus starts this parable by giving us a descriptive picture of this individual. He is not simply well off. This man was among the ‘obnoxious’ rich. Everyone knew he was rich, and he liked it that way.

Heavenly Father, Your Name is Great and Your Word is Marvelous above all else. I can never grasp all that is to be known of You. But each day in pursuit of that knowledge brings me joy. Thank You for the choices You have made. You are always right and good. It makes life worth living. We can face tomorrow knowing You are in charge. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

In my years I have come across some who felt this passage was too harsh, and should be buried in obscurity. But I have also met many who were very aquatinted with the horrors of divorce. They felt the weight and pain of the experience.

I have seen people survive divorce with their integrity intact. Far more often, it destroys the integrity of both parties. Therefore I find it very unwise to try and ‘water down’ the plain meaning of Scripture. Divorce and adultery are inseparably intertwined.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being the God of marriage. You have always encouraged good, healthy, strong families. This is one of the many ways we see Your great wisdom and love. You understand us so much better than we understand ourselves. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

The Bible shares with us in many places the fact that God’s Word is changeless. It is tied to the LORD Himself, and as such is immutable. This is one of the many reasons that interacting with the Bible daily is so important. It serves as an anchor. Even for Christians there is still a temptation in our souls to be unstable.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your immutability. It is easy for us to misunderstand Your changelessness. We usually think that means You are rigid and hard, unfeeling and like a stone. But You are not. You are a wonderful, beautiful person that is more alive and full of feeling than we are. But You need not grow or modify Yourself. Instead, You are the Fountain of Life. You alone uphold everything. Existence is itself dependent upon You and Your Divine Essence. Thank You for being The Good One and The Only One! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

On several occasions Jesus signaled what time it was in the plan of God. His listeners, by and large, missed these messages. But He did indicate that there was a shift in progress, and warned the wise to be ready and responsive.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the Truth! You are altogether wonderful and awesome beyond all imagination. We see only a glimpse of Your glory and are as yet overwhelmed. May we bring You praise in all that we do! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Money was not an indication of righteousness. The theology of the Pharisees was all wrong. They thought they were good because they were rich. They did not value what God values, but what man values.

Heavenly Father, thank You for putting value into our lives. To be justified in Your sight by Your Son is a blessing beyond words. Self-justification is unnecessary and ineffective. But the cross is both necessary and effective. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

How could the Pharisees reconcile their love of money with a love for God? They didn’t reconcile it, they equated it. In the mind of a good Pharisee, money was a signof God’s approval and blessing. Pharisees revelled in enjoying money because they saw it as evidence of their holiness.

The Pharisees scoffed because Jesus was not rich, nor did He value money the way they did. This is one of the key reasons that they rejected His message. They could not see their King in this man who did not understand the truth about money.

Heavenly Father, thank You for clarity. Only when we gaze upon Christ and see Him as He is do we begin to understand the realities of life. When we get a sense of the absolute and objective horrible nature of our sin, we begin to understand the breadth and height of the light and love You shed abroad by Christ. The wave of mercy and grace overcomes our pride and brings us to a profound humility. Oh to be like Christ! That is all that we need hope for. He is sufficient. Father, You are the Glorious One. I will love and praise You forever! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Jesus is making it clear here that He is not teaching we should let money be our god. The parable He shares here illustrates the need for faithfulness. But money is only a tool, and makes a poor master.

Heavenly Father, we praise You for Your Word! Having Your Truth available is such a blessing. Thank You for Your wisdom, grace, and love. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

It is very important to understand the work ethic of the Bible. Working faithfully both with one’s own possessions, and those of others, is strongly taught. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that your possessions are meant to be used to bless others as well as yourself. Work is a gift from God, and is meant to be done in Christ’s Name to the Glory of the Lord God.

Heavenly Father, thank you for work! It is acceptable and admirable in all. Our duty to you and our fellow humans is of inestimable value to our lives. When we live by Your economy, our life brings glory to You. You are worthy! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

As one goes through life it is important to ask, ‘Who trusts me?’ If you have very few, or even nobody, who trusts you on any level, it indicates your reputation is quite poor. Faithfulness in anything, even bad things, is appreciated.

Being faithful is actually a key to life. Those who learn this lesson early will go far. Now, Jesus is not saying that being faithful in worldly things makes you holy. But, it does make you trustworthy, and potentially loyal. Laziness and godliness do not mix. So being industrious won’t make you holy, but it will make you eligible.

Heavenly Father, thank You for constantly helping us to see how weak we are. Though we resist that, it is in our favor to realize just how much we depend upon You. Every blessing comes from You and is a gift from Your hand. Thank You for Your work in our lives! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

The bad manager was the one who was ‘unrighteous’ in little, but also proved to be unrighteous in much. In other words, he had been shrewd and worldlywise as he stole a bit off the top of his master’s profits. And he was then even more skilled in unrighteousness when the stakes were raised and he needed to provide for his future.

This verse is the application of this parable. The key is the word ‘faithful’ here. In contrast to the bad manager, Jesus calls us to be faithful servants. But, like the bad manager who was able to take his skills to the next level, those who are faithful in little things will prove faithful with big things.

Heavenly Father, thank You for this day to praise You! Thank You for Your leading and guiding of our lives. Thank You for giving us hope. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Here we must establish what Jesus is saying, and what He is not saying. He is not saying that we should do the same thing that the bad manager did. What he is saying is that we should be wise, and generous, in the use of our monetary resources. Money is a tool that can be used to bring blessing to the lives of others.

Notice here that Jesus says ‘when’ it fails. Money will ultimately fail. You can’t take it with you. What you can take with you is what you have chosen to do with it.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your generosity with Your creation. You have given us all things richly to enjoy. Your magnanimity and beneficence are absolutely overwhelming! To live by Your mercy and grace is the greatest joy we can know. Thank you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

In many other parables of Christ the master represents God, or Christ himself. Not so in this parable, here the master represents a worldly man who is impressed by the shrewdness of this bad manager. He recognizes the fact that the plan this manager hatches will indeed be a help to the manager’s future. He begins to think maybe he still needs such a man in his employ.

Jesus is not praising the ‘sons of this age’ for doing wrong. He simply recognizing the fact that those who are unrighteous may many times make very shrewd decisions nonetheless.

Heavenly Father, thank You for another day to praise You! Thank You for Your management of this world, and Your plan for redemption. Your grace and mercy are overwhelming! Your power and wisdom are awesome! Your love and kindness are wonderful! Thank You for Your power in our lives. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

This bad manager only had the invoices changed slightly. He did not want to have too much trouble to work off, yet enough favor to be befriended.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your awesome power! You are not simply strong, but are good and holy and just. You make right all that is wrong in Your time, and by Your plan. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Make no mistake, what the bad manager is doing here is not honest. It was, however, an effective way to make some quick so-called friends.

Heavenly Father, thank You for this day to serve You. Thank You for Your mercy, Your grace, and Your love. Thank You for being the Just One, the Holy One, the Righteous One, and the Pure One. You inspire our awe. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

These debtors were not in a position to argue with this manager. They were all in debt and were concerned abut their need to pay. It is so important to understand Jesus’ teaching that the borrower is servant to the lender.

Heavenly Father, thank you for another day to give you praise, honor, and glory! Father, you are worthy of every praise, of every exhalation. You have made mercy and grace apparent to us. We live in a world so burdened with sin and shame, and yet you teach us love. Thank you! In the name of Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

This man was thinking hard now. He was determined to solve his problem and came up with a scheme. He had not stopped his trickery or decided to be honest. But he was working hard to get out of his predicament.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love and care for us. We need not resort to trickery and dishonesty. We can rest in the assurance that You guide our path. And we will put all our strength into our dependence upon You. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Though a bad manager, this man was not unintelligent. This serves to show that his inability to manage correctly was due to negligence. Going through his options carefully he eliminated some basic options quickly. He should have a applied such studiousness to his job to begin with.

Heavenly Father, thank You for always being at work! We are lazy and ineffective. But You are always active and powerful. Thank You for Your activity and the blessings it causes in our lives. You are truly amazing and incredibly awesome! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.’

Luke 16:2 CSB

Basically this bad manager was told to reconcile the books and turn in the records. He would provide direct proof of his mismanagement in the process. He would no longer be able to serve in this capacity for anyone again. And, he would likely come out owing enough to almost land him in jail.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your work in our hearts and lives today! You are amazing, wonderful, and so powerful. I can never find just exactly the right words to praise You with. You are worthy of so much more! I love You, Father. And I like you very, very much! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

He also said to the disciples: “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions.

Luke 16:1 CSB

This rich individual likely had quite a large amount of possessions. And, it took time for him to hear about the issue because he was likely on a trip or lived in a different locale.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being close to us. You are a good Father and always love us and care for us. You are holy and just and wonderful. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.