Parable of the Household

The kingdom is like a household with many slaves and the owner placed one slave over the others as a steward. Most of the slaves rejoiced at the Lord’s choice and obeyed the steward joyfully. But others’ knowing him for a long time, said, “We have seen this man’s deeds from long ago. He is not worthy to be steward, so we will not obey him.” One of the slaves said, “If he is worthy to be steward, then I am, as well.” So he made himself steward and some of the slaves began to obey him rather than the chosen steward. Thus the household dissolved into chaos, dissension and fighting.

Hearing of this state in the household the Lord divided the household into two camps, saying, “I cannot have chaos in my household. Each of you slaves go to the steward you wish to obey. But I, myself, will only bless the camp of my chosen steward.”

Then the camp of the proud steward, jealous of the first camp’s blessing, arose and attacked the blessed camp, killing the chosen steward. For a long time, both camps were mixed and there was confusion as to who should be obeyed. Finally, the Lord said, “I have set cameras throughout my household. My guards will continue to examine each slave to see who is loyal to me and who is not. Those disloyal to me and my word will be cast out of the household.”

Even so, the untrustworthy will be made trustworthy only by trusting in the Lord. While he who trusts only in himself will be found disloyal.

Parable of the Good Christian

Once there was a good Christian man who was wealthy. He would read his Bible daily, praise God every Sunday and he treated his family well. Every day he would walk to his office from his house.

One day, as he was walking to his office, he saw a man in disheveled, dirty clothes, holding a sign which said, "Homeless—anything will help." The disheveled man looked, pleading with the Christian with his eyes. The Christian turned his head, saying to himself, "He needs to get a job instead of bothering good people on the street."

The next day the Christian saw a filthy woman holding a sign which said, "Pregnant and homeless, please help." She asked him, "Could you spare a few dollars so I could get a motel room," he replied, "Isn’t there a shelter you could go to?" And he passed her by.

The next day the Christian saw a man with brown skin sitting on the sidewalk with one leg missing. The man asked with a deep accent, "Could you please assist me in any way?" The Christian became upset with all of these interruptions of his pleasant morning meditation, and he yelled, "Can’t you people just leave me alone? Why don’t you just go back where you came from?"

As he walked into his office on that third day, the Christian had a heart attack and died. The angels picked him up and delivered him immediately (or so it seemed to him) to the Father for judgment. The Father looked down at him and said, "This week you have been tested. I sent you three of my angels, to see how you would respond to them. I have brought them here to witness to your action."

The first angel, no longer disheveled, but wearing white robes said, "This Christian refused to help me." The second angel, no longer dirty, said, "He told me to find a shelter, but offered no help." The third angel, with his leg fully intact, said, "This Christian told me to go back where I came from. So I am here. He refused to help me." The Father looked at the man and judged: "You have done evil to your brothers and sisters. I gave you many blessings, and you refused to help those in need. You will be punished eternally."

As the enforcement officers came to take the Christian away, he called to the Father, "But Lord, Lord—what about my family? Shouldn’t they be given a chance? Please send one of these angels to them to explain to them their sin so they can repent." The Father replied, "Do they not read my Word daily? If they ignore the one who has been risen from the dead, they will not listen to an angel."

Parable of the Brokers

Once there was a brokerage whose owner told the brokers to invest in some high-risk stock. “It doesn’t matter which stock it is, really,” he said. “Just invest in the stock in companies that don’t look like they’re going to make it. Some of them will succeed marvelously, and we will gain a profit in the end.”

One broker in the firm denied to do any such thing. “I won’t fritter away our clients capital on just any old company! I will wait until the company shows a profit, then I will invest.”

One broker agreed with the owner and said, “Yes, what the owner says is correct.” And he invested in high-risk stock. However, when he lost a good deal of money in a dot-com investment, he withdrew and invested only in conservative stocks from that time.

Another broker agreed with the owner, but said, “The high-risk companies are best, but it is best not to actually invest in them. Rather, we should educate the companies, and those who grow will be those we invest in.” So he followed his own advice and educated companies to follow his own wisdom, and invested in those who already showed a profit.

But the owner’s son took what the owner said to heart. And while at first, the son’s investments were spotty, in the end, he pulled the largest profit. And the owner saw what all of these brokers had done. He demoted the first three for failing to do what he said, but the last, his son, he raised up to be a partner in the company. So it is in the kingdom of God.


Luke 14:21-23 Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” “Sir,” the servant said, “what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.” Then the master told his servant, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.”

Luke 12:33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.”

Mark 2:17 “It is not those who are healthy who need a healer, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”


We are to invest our time and resources in the poor, the needy, the helpless and the worthless. God will cause the growth, and we will obtain the reward of the Father.