If you can trust people in little things, you can also trust them in greater. ...
You cannot give yourself to God and money. ...   Luke 16:9-15

Jesus always goes to the heart of the matter.  He never lets us get away with the temptation to say: "I can keep the different parts of my life separate.  There really isn't any relationship between how I manage my work life, my home life, my relationships, my possessions, my reputation, and how I relate with God.  I'm probably just not relating with God too well right now because - in that day to day part of my life - I'm just a little busy."

Jesus reminds me that there is really only one me.  I simply can't successfully get away with saying, "Lord, I want to be your servant, but I want to  pick and choose what areas of my life I'll serve you in."  

How I live my life is how I relate to God.  My relationship with God is all about the spirit with which I go to work in the morning, the faith that shapes how I love and care for my family, and the grace I rely on from God to face the mystery of life and death each day.  My relationship with God is as much about what I decide to buy, how I choose to present myself, what sacrifices I become comfortable making, as it does if I go to church and whether or not I take time for formal prayer each day.

The mystery Jesus opens up for us is the simple reality of this connection between the way I make dozens of choices each day and the me that stands before and with God.  It is customary to say that we can find intimacy with God in the midst of our everyday lives.  Jesus is telling us that God sees the connection between the various - sometimes conflicting - desires in our hearts.  Jesus is inviting us to a deeper integrity about who we are.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to ask ourselves, "to whom and to what do I give myself today?"  That will often lead me to ask, "can I give myself to God in giving myself to this person, to this desire, to this pattern, this addiction?"  It will then often lead me to ask, "what giving of myself will express how I want to give of myself to God today?"

May the Spirit of Jesus, who inspires these questions, fill us with desires that lead us closer to the one who draws us to himself.
.