Look at the big picture

Jesus, help me do today's work instead of worrying about the whole school year! Amen.

Jesus told this story: "A man heard his servant was wasting his money and said he'd be fired. 'What will I do?' the servant worried. He figured people would help him if he helped them, so he called those who owed his master money. 'Whatever you owe, now you only owe half,' he told them. The master praised his servant for being smart. Like that servant," Jesus finished, "you won't be trusted with big things like going to heaven, if you can't be trusted with small things like money now."

Did you start the school year groaning at the heaps of work ahead of you? It's a relief to know that you only have to do one day's work at a time -- and amazing to think about how much you'll have done by next June!

Looking at one day's schoolwork and homework is focusing on "the small picture." Thinking about the whole school year and how much you have to get done overall is "the big picture."

Those ideas are exactly what this week's Gospel (Luke 16:1-13) is about. When the servant in the story was about to get fired from his job, he looked at the big picture: What would happen to him? How would he live? He decided to help people in small ways now, so they'd help him in the future when he had no job and no money.

Every day of school leads you toward the next one -- and toward the end of the school year, when your work for this grade is done. That's why it's important to just do each day's work, instead of panicking about how everything will get done by June.

Looking at "the small picture" worked out for the servant, too. He focused on his day's work -- helping people who owed his master money -- and ended up improving "the big picture," which was keeping his job.

The best part is that Jesus promised, when you focus on the "small-picture" work that's right in front of you, it leads to a really big picture: going to heaven!