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If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  Luke 16:11

We are accustomed to the biblical message that we should trust God.  But here is another — smaller and subordinate, but still important — category: that God would trust us.  If we are not faithful (pistoi) with money, which is unrighteous and not worth much, who will entrust (pisteusei) to us the true riches of spiritual wealth and power?  In other words, if we can’t handle cheap things wisely, why would God put far more precious things into our hands?

I wonder if we have connected these dots: our prayers for revival, and our use of money.  We cannot buy the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:18-20).  But how we use our money is one indicator, in God’s sight, of our maturity and wisdom and readiness and trustworthiness with greater things, like revival.  Francis Schaeffer:

“The ‘true riches’ [of Luke 16:11] obviously have nothing to do with money.  To have spiritual power to overcome the awfulness of the post-Christian world — that is true riches.  The church is constantly saying, ‘Where’s our power? Where’s our power?’  Jesus’ statement here gives us at least part of the answer.  We must use money with a view to what counts in eternity.  If a child cannot take his father’s money, go to the store, purchase what is requested and return home with the change, it does not make sense for the father to increase his allowance.  So since . . . the money we handle is not our own, if we do not bring it under the lordship of Christ, we will not be given the greater wealth of spiritual power.”

Francis A. Schaeffer, “Ash heap lives,” in No Little People (Downers Grove, 1974), page 266.

Can we in this generation be trusted with the glorious powers of revival?  God assesses us not only by listening to how we pray and plead but also by looking at how we spend and give.

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