Trustworthy

“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. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who
will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with
someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke
16:10-12).

Stealing is a common characteristic of the natural man. It
is sin (Exodus 20:15), and in most states and nations it is also a crime. When
we think of it as crime, then we are grateful that we have not been caught.
When we think of it as sin, we know that we are always caught.

Most stealing is not through burglary or hold-ups or
shoplifting. It is being dishonest in very little and being dishonest in much.
Crime is measured in petty larceny and grand larceny. Petty larceny is a
misdemeanor, and grand larceny is a felony. The penalties are proportionate to
the crimes.

Sin is also measured in size; however, the size does not
affect the penalty. The wages of sin is still death. And the very little
sins lead to the great sins.

We are naïve to think that the dishonesty present in any major
financial scandal started out with big sin. If what Jesus said was true, then
the guilty ones had not been trustworthy in little matters. They had been
dishonest in little things first.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.