“And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:12/NIV).
Money and property is not central to the Christian life. Still money is a reality and many things we cannot get without money.
Jesus was well aware of rules of everyday life. Think of a father and his son. Suppose the father is a rich man. It would be sensible for him to pass on some responsibility to his son as he matures. The son would inherit everything in years to come, yet it would be good for him to first learn how things work.
A father might make his son an administrator of part of his property. This would enable the son to learn how to deal with money.
The father would want his son to be faithful in all his administrative tasks. The son will have to prove his skill and his faithfulness.
Only then a sensible father will begin to make his son the owner of some of the property. Only then the son will be given that which is his own.
Here is the King James rendering of the above verse: “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”
I am still dealing with the phrase: Love “seeketh not her own.” What are we learning about seeking our own as we consider the above verse?
We might crave and strife to achieve what we consider our own. Yet some maturity is required to be the owner of certain things. You must have learned how to appropriately deal with things in order to be and to remain the happy owner.
What Was Jesus Really Speaking About?
Of course the point, Jesus really is making, also is that if we are found faithful in our dealing with money, God may in his time bestow us with more important heavenly riches. Jesus says: “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke 16:11/NIV).
Being faithful with worldly possessions does imply giving. Jesus says: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”(Luke 16:9/NIV).
Rather than looking for selfish gain a Christian is advised to seek God’s kingdom first: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33/KJV).
