The Misery Of Spiritual Mismanagement Series

The Misery of Spiritual Mismanagement

Luke 12:40-48

by David O. Dykes

INTRODUCTION

According to Luke 12:40-48, Jesus is telling us we are all to be managers of important resources. Some people do a good job, and others are poor spiritual managers. Which kind are you?

Beginning in verse 35, Jesus warns His disciples to be ready for His return. Then in verse 40, He says,

“You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us or to everyone?” The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manger, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

“That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. For everyone who has been give much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

In this parable, Jesus is the Master who has returned to heaven, but one day He is coming again. We are the servants who have been entrusted by Him to do His work. Jesus is coming back, and He if came today, what kind of servant would you be? First, let’s look at

I. THE MARKS OF A GOOD SERVANT

In verse 42 Jesus asks the question, “Who is the faithful and wise manager?” Then He proceeds to answer His own question. Look at the two qualities of a faithful and wise servant:

1. A good manager of God’s resources.

The Master has left each servant with some resources and has left Him in charge of a certain job. If you are a believer, Jesus has done the same for you. Everything good in your life has come as a gift from God. But it’s not yours to own it’s only yours to manage. You may disagree, and say, “That’s not so! I own a piece of property, my name is on the deed, I paid for it. That’s why they call it REAL estate–and it’s mine to do with as I please!” Okay, if you think you own it, then I want to see you come back in a thousand years and claim it. You don’t own it; you are only allowed to “manage” it for a few years, like the previous “owner” and the “owner” before that! The question the Master will ask you when He returns is “Have you been a good manager of the resources I gave you?”

Let me give you three areas for you to consider if you are being a good manager. First, are you being a good manager of your

(A.) Time?

God is going to give you around 70 or 80 years of time in this world. The Bible says in Ephesians 5:16 we should be “redeeming the time because the days are evil.” When the Lord asks you how well you managed the time He gave you, how will you reply?

What if every morning when you woke up, you found $1,440 cash in your pocket or purse? The only condition is, you lose all the money you don’t spend that day. Do you think you would have any trouble spending $1,440 that day? I imagine you would be careful to spend almost all of it every day! For some of you, it would only last a couple of hours in a nice store. Wouldn’t it be fun to try?

In reality, God does that for you every single day of your life. Oh, He doesn’t give you dollars; He gives you something more valuable than that: Time. Every day, God gives you 1,440 minutes. Are you spending them wisely? Are you being faithful to the Master in how you invest your time?

Are you wasting your time on things that don’t really matter in light of eternity? In this life, there are only two things we deal with that are eternal: The Word of God, and the souls of men and women. Think about it, the best way to spend your God-given time is by investing it in the Word of God or the souls of men and women. Are you a good time manager or are you involved in so many frivolous sideshows you can’t focus on the main thing?