Week 3 – PARABLES
The Goldfish & The Parakeet
– Lary Stucker
This week’s Lent devotional is one of Jesus’s more controversial parables; the unjust steward in Luke chapter 16.
When I was a little kid, I wanted a parakeet, so my parents bought me a goldfish. Seriously. How could they confuse this cheap dime-store goldfish with a bird? My goldfish came with a little bowl that needed to be cleaned once a week, a castle, and a bottle of fish food flakes with instructions to give him just “a pinch” of food each day. That goldfish lasted about 3 days before I discovered why you were only supposed to feed him “a pinch” of food. My parents replaced the goldfish, and maybe a month went by before another mistake killed off another.
You’re probably wondering what dead goldfish have to do with a parable about an unjust steward. Jesus told parables about characters his disciples would be familiar with. Lazarus and the rich man, a prodigal son, a good Samaritan, or a manager who mishandles his boss’s possessions. He used this familiar backdrop to drive home some important truths about the power, dangers, and potential benefits of unrighteous mammon (money). While I think it’s worthwhile to spend time dissecting each aspect of this parable, I’m going to skip over most of them and focus in on just two verses:
“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”
In context, Jesus makes it very clear that money should be considered a little thing in the life of the believer, and if you handle “that which is least,” you will be entrusted with the true riches He has for you.
Several years (and many goldfish) later, I could faithfully perform the duties of a responsible pet owner and I was given a parakeet. While I know a parakeet pales in comparison to the true riches God has in store for you, be mindful to care for the goldfish He has placed in your life.