Verse: Luke 16:10-12
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
Devotion
These verses seem so straightforward, it has been a challenge to write a devotional about them. It makes perfect sense, be trustworthy and you will be trusted more. Be dishonest and people won’t trust you. What else is there to say? As I was thinking about what to write, I heard a buzzing noise and realized a stink bug was flying around and strangely, I knew what to write about. Stink bugs are so little but they can make such a big, nasty smell. Not only that, but their smell attracts more stink bugs, potentially creating an even bigger infestation. My kids have asked about the purpose of stink bugs. While I don’t know the scientific answer, it certainly is going to make me think of this passage from now on when I see them crawling around.
Luke talks about being trustworthy and dishonest, in big and small ways in this passage. Sometimes it feels overwhelming to rebuild lost trust or to think that God would ever trust me with much. The good news is, we start small. God gives us small opportunities to be trusted before we move to the bigger ones. On the other side, even a small amount of dishonesty at work, school, or home can create much larger problems, not only for me, but for those around me. It’s so easy to let the “stink bug” of dishonesty creep in and leave its nasty smell behind, but God calls us to be honest in the big and the small things of each day. What small step towards being trustworthy can you take today?