Lesson 2578

(Lesson 2578)(01-12-19) Luke 16:1-13
    “ And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

   We should be reminded that even though some parts of the recent series of lessons apply equally to modern Christians, the majority, such as most of the lesson from today’s quote,  pertains generally to the Jews of Jesus’ day, who were bound by the rules of the old laws.
    The part of the lesson that applies directly to us is that we cannot be the servants of two separate masters. We either choose to devote ourselves to the Lord’s work or we devote ourselves to the work of Satan.
    The rules Christian people are to follow are very simple and there are only two, so far as we are concerned after we have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior. Those two rules are; “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
    If we, after being saved, obey those two simple rules, and do all we can to see to it that every living soul who will listen hears the wonderful, soul saving word of God, we have completed our Christian duty.~