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The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

Luke 16:8, ESV

Jesus’ parable of the shrewd manager is a challenging image. Why would Jesus commend the dishonesty of another? The manager had been mishandling his master’s accounts, and for this, he was being fired, but before being fired, he cooked the books further to the benefit of those indebted to his master. This is most certainly not godly behavior. Yet, Jesus commends this man. What if we look at Jesus as the shrewd manager? Think about our debt to God. If we were being held to account for our sins, there would be no way we could ever enter into God’s glory. Yet, our Lord, through His death on the cross, wrote off our sin and set us free from the burden and purchased for us entrance into the kingdom. This is the story of our salvation, the scandal of forgiveness, because we have been blessed at the expense of our God. It wasn’t done by our choosing, but His. He knew the great amount of debt that was upon us as the sins of our lives were truly killing us. As we look out at the world and see so many with their lives being swallowed up in sin, let us lead them to the one who can alleviate all of that burden and help lead them into His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.