LUKE CHAPTER 16 (New International Version (NIV)

Let’s reflect during this holy season of advent and preparation who is that one master that rules our life? In this chapter of Luke 16 in the Parable of the Shrewd Manager Jesus tells us that 13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”
“Master” is not a person, but it is whatever is taking up most of your time, your career(job), your chores, your education, food, drugs, alcohol, etc. "Money" refers to total “wealth,” including money, property, and possessions, any or all of which some people serve instead of God. Having great wealth is not necessarily “greed,” and there are people in the Bible who were wealthy, including Abraham and David and were wonderful people. True greed is an issue of the heart, so we cannot just look at how much a person owns and decide the person is greedy. We humans are all servants, servants to our dreams and desires. We all have found ourselves at one time or another not having enough time to accomplish all that we want in life. As we all have experienced life is a balancing game, trying to incorporate Church or Scripture Study into our busy lives is difficult. This NIV Bible Version utilizes the word “despise”, some other versions you might see the word “hate”. While we perceive hate to be an extreme expression of dislike, in the Bible, hate means not to dislike but to "love less." A good example of “hate” meaning “love less” is when God said about Jacob and Esau, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Rom. 9:13) So if we don’t have our lives balanced at all times it does not mean we “hate” the things or people who are not in our lives, BUT not having them in our lives we are only hurting ourselves. The phrase “God knows your hearts” in this chapter is said towards the Pharisees who claim to be righteous, law abiding, holy leaders, but Jesus knew what was really in their hearts. The Pharisees tried to justify their actions as people often do today when they aren’t balancing their life. If you have not had the time to put aside your desires and your responsibilities to become closer to the Lord Jesus Christ, it is not too late, start today, as God knows your heart and He loves you very much!!

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’"A thousand bushels of wheat," he replied. 8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? 13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

Additional Teachings
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”