Take Your Bill and Write Fourscore - Luke 16:7

The beloved physician Luke wrote how Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of you? give an account of your stewardship; for you may be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord takes away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much do you owe unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty”, and in chapter sixteen and verse seven of his book Luke wrote how Jesus said the steward another debtor, “how much do you owe?” where we read:

Then said he to another, And how much do you owe?

And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take your bill, and write fourscore.

The verse reads, “Then said he to another, And how much do you owe?” Luke began with the words, “then said he to another” or “thereupon, thereafter or afterwards the steward uttered, declared and proclaimed to one other debtor to the rich man”, “and how much do you owe” which means “and what is the amount that you are indebted”? Luke shared how Jesus said the “steward” asked another one of his master's “debtors” what amount they “owed” him.

The verse continues, “And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take your bill, and write fourscore.” Luke added the words, “and he said” or “and the other debtor uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “an hundred measures of wheat” which means “one hundred corcus or cor of dry measure of wheat which is about ten to eleven bushels”. “And he said unto him” or “and the steward told this debtor to”, “take your bill” which means “get your written acknowledgment of a debt”, “and write fourscore” or “and delineate or form in letters on a tablet, parchment, paper or other material eighty”. Luke shared how Jesus said the second debtor to the steward's master told him he was indebted “a hundred cor of dry measure of wheat”, so the steward told him to write that he only “owed” “eighty” cor.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we see how this “steward” was going one by one through the “rich man's” debtors and reducing their debt to him. He knew those whom he reduced their “bill” would be indebted to him after he was let go from his position, so he took advantage of his current situation to better his future. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (See Hebrews 9:27), and those who carefully consider these words will understand there is a “future” for every person to which they may prepare. God sent His Son Jesus to be the “Savior” of the world, and He died on the cross for the sins of everyone. When a person yields their life to Him, their sins are forgiven and they shall receive everlasting life. Those who relate the “wise steward's” preparation for “judgment” to their own will submit to Jesus and find themselves “prepared” for their future.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus said, “the lord commended the unjust steward” so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".