Plan Ahead (Part 1)

"Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can" (John Wesley).

June 5, 2019

"And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

Luke 16:9

Our verse for today is one that has confused some believers.  It has to do with financial planning, but perhaps not in the way one might think.  Here’s the way the verse is translated in the Harvest Study Bible, a version with simpler English for English Second Language readers.

“I tell you, use the worldly things you have now to make ‘friends’ for later.  Then, when those things are gone, you will be welcomed into a home that lasts forever,” (Luke 16:9, HSB).

“And I say unto you,”
As we study the scriptures, one of the basic rules of interpretation is to know who is doing the speaking.  Jesus is teaching in this passage.  Note who He is teaching (v. 1).  It is His disciples He is talking to.

The context of our verse is the story of the steward who was being called to give an accounting by his master (Luke 16:1-8).  At the end of Jesus’ story, the steward is praised for his wisdom in handling financial matters for his master.  But note what Jesus says about many Christians.

“And the lord commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” (Luke 16:8).

Jesus says that lost people often do a better job of handling their finances then the “children of light” do.  How can we be “faithful” with our finances if we do not plan how to use them?

On the one hand, believers, we don’t want to let worry over money and the things of the world derail us and our service for the Lord (see Matthew 6).  But as we see, Jesus also taught that we need to make plans for our future (Luke 16).

“Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness;”
“Mammon” is “treasure…riches (where it is personified and opposed to God),”1 (Thayer).  When we see the word in the Bible is has to do with money.  Jesus’ teaching says that we believers ought to plan how to use our “unrighteous mammon” with a view to the future, that is to eternity.

“Use the worldly things you have now to make ‘friends’ for later” (HSB, Luke 16:9b).

How can our funds make a difference in eternity?  By investing them now in God’s work for the Kingdom.  Besides your local church, world missions is a great place to spend for later.  Using your money now to spread the Gospel will bring eternal dividends in heaven.

Where could we get some help with planning our finances to invest in eternal things?  Come back tomorrow as we conclude our discussion of “planning ahead.”

 

 

 

1.  J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.