Banquet With The King: Are You Faithful in Big and Little Things?

Jesus told this story to his disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer's money. So the employer called him in and said, 'What's this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.' The manager thought to himself, 'Now what? My boss has fired me. I don't have the strength to dig ditches, and I'm too proud to beg. Ah, I know how to ensure that I'll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.' So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, 'How much do you owe him?' The man replied, 'I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.' So the manager told him, 'Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.' 'And how much do you owe my employer?' he asked the next man. 'I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,' was the reply. 'Here,' the manager said, 'take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.' The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.

God is faithful.
He gave us the promise of the rainbow.

Here's the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people's things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. Then he said to them, "You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God." Luke 16:1-15 (Underlined for emphasis.)

Meditate. Consider God’s guidance in Scripture. Read God’s word and listen to what He is saying.

The promise… You cannot serve both God and money. That is the bottom line—God needs to be first in your life...in my life. This dishonest manager was shrewd. Should he be an example for us? I don’t think so. The rich man may have admired the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd—but I for one don’t want to be like him. We are to be honest, pure, loving and faithful. That dishonest manager did not have those qualities. He certainly wasn’t honoring God…or his employer with his attitude or actions. He loved money—even money that didn’t belong to him and it got him fired. So he covered his back by cheating his boss out of even more that was due to him. What a guy! He made himself even more detestable in God’s sight, but that didn’t seem to matter. His lesson is to use the resources at hand to make friends. Is that showing love to God—to use money to win friends and influence others? Using others’ money like that manager did was a dishonest activity. It is just not right—not ethical—and God knows a person’s heart. There it is. Put God first—and the right things in life will fall in line.

"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:31-34 NASB

When I first read this passage in Luke, I thought…does Jesus want us to be shrewd? No, that was not the point of His lesson. He just wants us to be faithful. Put God, not money, first in our lives. Don’t worry—be happy in your relationship, and your faithfulness to God. Nothing really “belongs” to us. Everything we have is God’s. Honor God. Use what He has given you, faithfully—in the big and little things of your life.

Prayer – Dear Lord, I want to always put You first. Guard my heart that I would seek to live an ethical life that is pleasing and honoring to You.

Verse of Salvation ~ Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own]. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 AMP

Happy Birthday, Joeske!

May God continue to bless you…in this coming year and always.

Love and Prayers

Portions reused from July 27, 2017, Banquet With The King blog.

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP),

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®,

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.

Banquet With The King

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Are You Faithful in Big and Little Things?

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