Today's Passage - Luke 12:33-40

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 12:33-40   "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes... You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."   Treasure is the guidepost in one's heart; therefore, we must be cautious in how we handle money, else we will be judged because of it. In the 38 parables that Jesus preached, 16 of them are about money. The Lord didn't care so much about money itself, but He cared about the relationship between money and our life. Every Christian must know that we are the stewards of our money, but not its master. From the perspective of men, money belongs to people; but for Christians, everything belongs to God. God is ultimately the master of everything, and we are only His stewards. We must carefully manage and use the money that God has entrusted us, to become faithful stewards of all grace that God has given to us.   On a wall inside the building of the national bank of U.K. in London, Psalm 24 is engraved: "The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." This is to remind everyone that everything in the world belongs to God, therefore when we pray for our offerings, we often thank God by saying: "Lord, everything is from you and we are just offering them back to you." If it wasn't for the talents and abilities that God has given us, we cannot possibly be able to make any offerings; if it wasn't for the money and wealth that God has given us, we would have nothing to offer to God. Therefore, offering is not our benevolent gift to God, but it's just to return what God has given us; it's not to accumulate good karma, but it's the expression of love. When we truly understand the meaning of offering, we won't be bargaining with God over it, but rather we will gladly offer everything to God.   One day, we will all be judged before God's tabernacle. God won't really care how much money you have made, but He will value how effectively you have managed and spent it. From verse 35 to 40, the Lord reminded us that as servants, we must remain ready before the master without ever thinking that we can do whatever we like because He is not back home yet. In fact, every day of our life counts before the Lord, and those who are ready for the Lord's return will be blessed! Have you prepared yourself for the Lord's return?   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because everything is from you; you are the master of everything and master of our life, and everything we owe is fro you. May the Spirit of the Lord open our eyes, let us understand the responsibility of the stewards, so that we may use your grace in our daily life to expand you Kingdom. May you give us strength and wisdom to become a faithful servant before you. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!