Be as Shrewd as Snakes…….

And as Innocent as Doves.

The Shrewd Manager:

”Jesus said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and he was told that the manager was wasting his master’s money. He called him in and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in a complete account of your handling of my property, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ “My manager is going to dismiss me from my job, the man said to himself.’ ‘What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg. Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes’

So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first one, “How much do you owe my master? ‘One hundred barrels of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him; ‘sit down and write fifty’. He said to another one, ‘And you—how much do you owe?’ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him; ‘write eight hundred.’ The master of the dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light.”

And Jesus went on to say, “And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out you will be welcomed in the eternal home. Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. If then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?”

“No servant can be the slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other;

“You cannot serve both God and money”.

(Good News for Modern Man. The New Testament in Today’s English Version, Third Edition abs American Bible Society, Aprilm15, 1971)

Overwhelming. Restless. Love of God.

His love is 24/7.

To neither slumber or sleep.

Seeking or searching for what is missing.

Those who are obedient.

Await those who have gone astray. (PF)

Those who are lost.

24/7.

There is not a lie He won’t stare down. To come after your weariness. He invites us every single day. To His table. Makes little difference whether you plan to “brown bag” it or not. He listens and He hears. Especially astute and acute-ly for the ones who grumble the most. Sometimes, they cannot hear his voice over their own grumbling. And He knows this. He of all, hears this.

Hangry or Hungry. Makes no difference. His arms are open arms. However, we hesitate. Because.

We are afraid.

Day by Day, day in and day our, from dusk until dawn He whispers to us to “Let it Go”.

Easier said than done. Sometimes we are immensely too caught up in playing catch and catch up to bother with Him. We insist, we are right and He is wrong.

It is a darn good thing that He has the PATIENCE we so sorely lack.

Let’s imagine for a sec. Picture in your mind. A “contest”

There are two tables. One labeled “Sinners” and another table labeled “Saints”. Folks lined up for hours upon hours. You had one chance, after the gate opens to run to one of the two tables.

You are on your own.

Where will you run? Which table will you run to? Whatever. Whichever? How will you hold yourself to account for the one you choose, the table you choose?

Woolliness?. Maybe. Knee jerk. Depends. It is ok to admit. We just don’t like to. Admit it. We are too busy hiding behind. Ourselves. Sometimes. There exists anxiety. Anxiety in our hearts for what is missing. At the table. No. No. No. I do not mean the ketchup or mustard, or salt or pepper. Is there an anxiousness, a longing, for nostalgia. Perhaps. What is it then? Where does it come from? The grumbling and the mumblings…..

None of us live for ever. And when and if we are allowed to meet Him. Face to Face. Will we have the confidence to look Him straight in the eye. And say.

Thank you. Thank goodness. For showing me the way. The better way. Recognize it is still our duty to work towards His grace even if and when we were sleeping because we were too exhausted from not “making the grade” or because we could not “cut it”. In the process, shortchanged ourselves, and worse off, those around us in misguided attempts to bowl them over to get to either table?

It is worth asking oneself. It is worth taking a personal accounting of our person. While “passing the buck” along and along and on and on and on, somewhere along that line of our lies that we

Forgot.

To take even one little minute to remember. To remind ourselves it is detrimental to not remember. We cannot just plow over, under through another human. Or being.

He knows this. He never excludes anyone. But we do. Exclude. Perhaps intentionally. Perhaps not intentionally. Either way he reminds us day in and day out.

Day by day. To get.

Real.

He is not afraid to stare us down. He is never, nor has been afraid to blink first. He never has been. But.

We are afraid.

Perception can be a fickle beast.

So, we look away, look down, close our eyes. Because it can hurt too much to see what we see.

The Good News. He showers us with grace. Every minute. Every day. When we fall short. Which we do. And we will. Again.

It really does not matter so much if and whether 1+1=2, One plus one equals two. Or what equations we choose to use.

A certain amount of restlessness IS necessary to keep us on our toes. Otherwise complacency, even amidst anxiety, anxiousness can become the driver of our every move, every movement. Stepping all over it, in it. Discontent. Malcontent. Too much negative or irrelevant content.

Time will tell. It always does. The bigger question, is when your time comes, will you be able to tell. The time. That it is time. To stand face to face, with yourself, your failings, failures—honestly and confidently. Before Him.

When eternal rest is imminent. And it will, at some point in time, be for all of us.

Will you be afraid?

Or will you be convicted?

Enough to look Him in the eyes.

And say.

Thanks be to you God.

Only God knows.

”The Lord seeth not as man seeth; For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

And as innocent as doves.