Pastor Rick Warren Daily devotional January 27 2022
“Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.”
Luke 16:9 (NLT)
Luke 16:9 is a verse that most people don’t understand. Jesus says, “Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home” (NLT).
Jesus is saying that, just like the shrewd manager who made friends he could later count on, you need to use some of your money to make eternal friends that will welcome you into heaven.
He’s not saying you can buy your way into heaven—you can’t. Jesus has already paid the price on the cross. He’s not saying you can purchase your salvation—you can’t. Salvation is a free gift by grace.
Jesus is telling you to use your money to build friendships that are going to go on and on for eternity. When you use your money to help other people meet Jesus, you make friends for eternity and you gain rewards for eternity.
Imagine getting to heaven one day, and a hundred people are standing at the entrance, clapping and cheering and saying, “We’ve been waiting for you! We’re here because you spent money to tell us the Good News. We’re your friends for life—no, for eternity! If it weren’t for the way you used your money, we wouldn’t have heard how to get to heaven.”
Are you using any of your money to get people to heaven? Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you?
When you buy a Bible and give it to someone who doesn’t have one, you’ve stored up treasure in heaven. When you support a program that shares the Good News around the world, you have stored up treasure in heaven. When you help build a church, you have stored up treasure in heaven. That is the highest and best use of your money.
You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead by investing your money to help other people meet Jesus.
