Verse of the Day for May 21

Jesus calls money that which is least. That alone is surprising. In verse eleven he calls it the unrighteous mammon and sets it beside the true riches, which are something else entirely.

Yet he does not say money is unimportant. He says it is a test. How you handle the least reveals how you would handle much. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.

That keeps purpose on the ground. It is easy to dream about faithfulness in big things, a ministry, a large business, a platform. Jesus points instead at the change in your pocket and the receipt you could quietly adjust.

The parable just before these verses is about a dishonest manager who uses money shrewdly. Jesus is not praising the dishonesty. He is saying that money, used well, can serve friendship and eternity. Small, earthly things can be handled with heaven in view.

If you work at a till, or keep the books for a church, or run a small transport business, the least is in your hands every day. Handle it faithfully. Jesus says that is how true riches come to be entrusted.

Faithfulness with small sums is training for true riches.

Nobody becomes trustworthy in much by skipping the least.