Clever

 

A man built a small grocery store in a small town and they both began to grow.  He put in a line of hardware to meet the needs of the growing community.  Years went by and the town prospered along with the little store.  A big grocery chain looked at locating in the growing town and offered to buy the man’s property.  But he wouldn’t sell.  So, they built a huge grocery store right beside the little store.  A large hardware chain approached the man to buy his property, but again, he wouldn’t sell.  So, they built a huge hardware store right on the other side of the little store.  Soon the man’s business began to dry up.  With a huge grocery store on one side and a huge hardware store on the other side, he became desperate.  But he had an idea.  He pulled the last of his money together and put a huge neon sign above his door which said, “Main Entrance Here”.  This cute story reminds me of the dishonest steward in Luke 16:1-13.  When the steward was caught embezzling, he quickly made a few last crooked deals before he was fired.  Jesus said in Luke 16:8, “… the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely …”  Sometimes clever trumps hard work.  Hey, work smarter, not harder.