Make Friends with Jesus

“What shall I do...?” Luke 16:3

Many times we find ourselves in a quandary about which direction to take, or what option to go for. The dilemma of the steward in Luke chapter 16 is he has been fired by his master for dishonesty. Instead of taking care of his master’s property, he has been dissipating it. Thinking quickly, saying to himself that he cannot go digging ditches or doing manual labor, he again uses his master’s wealth to exert influence on 

his master’s debtors so that they will be the ones to help him get through the future rough times. 

Jesus uses the example of this dishonest man to show us that just as the men of this world use wealth cunningly to get what they want, His followers should also use earthly things to get into heaven! 

“And so I say to you, make friends for yourself using iniquitous mammon, so that, when you will have passed away, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles,” Jesus instructed in Luke 16:9. It may seem strange but apparently Jesus is saying we can “pay” our way to heaven! 

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25:35-36) When we make friends with the poor, the stranger in our midst, the sick, the prisoners, when we are generous with what we have, no matter how little, we gain a passage to heaven because it is Jesus we have befriended! 

Yes, Lord, may we always look for opportunities to make friends with You wherever we can find You!