I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. – Luke 16:9
In our economy today it’s very important to start saving for retirement early. Those who think only of today will just spend money, but those who consider the future will invest.
That’s the difference between immaturity and maturity—the immature spend, and the mature save for tomorrow. Jesus’ parable in Luke 16 demonstrates that the sons of darkness are often wiser than the children of light because they consider the future. If men are willing to do that in this life, how much more should we Christians make friends for ourselves who will receive us into the eternal dwellings. God tells us to wisely use our stewardship in something that has eternal value—people.
When we stand before Christ, He will review our life from salvation to death. We will see how responsibly we used the time, talents, and treasures God gave us, and we will see the quality of our stewardship for Him. We will see the impact we had on other people and how much we invested in others for eternity.
In today’s verse, Jesus emphasizes the importance of people. We must see that people are highly valued in God’s economy. God measures our effect on people not by how many dollars we have in the bank, but by how we have bettered the lives of others and influenced them for good.