All of your stuff is really God's. Jesus wants you to see yourself as a manager, not an owner. If He audited you today, would He conclude that you are proud to work for His business?

Ever been through an IRS audit? Ever gone through a comprehensive job performance review or a third-party department audit? No fun. I’m told that they are miserable experiences.

Jesus told a parable about a shrewd manager who was being audited: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management’” (Luke 16:1,2).

Either through mismanagement or through fraud, the rich man’s business had lost serious money. The manager knew that the books would reveal his role in the losses, and his heart sank.

You may or may not like to hear this, but Jesus told this story to encourage you to see yourself as a manager, not an owner. All your stuff is really God’s, and He seems to think that you are accountable to Him for the way in which you accumulate it and spend it. Is He Lord of your checkbook? Is He Lord of your portfolio? Is He Lord of your real estate or management philosophy? If He audited you today to analyze how you are managing His property, would you be proud or terrified? If He audited you today, would He conclude that you are proud to work for His business?