We might be a little surprised that the rich man in today's Gospel story should praise an employee who had, in effect, diddled him out of a lot of money. We might even be more surprised that Jesus told this story as something for us to follow. We need to remember that, in the parables, not every detail is to be taken as part of the message. Certainly, Jesus (still more, the employer) is not approving of what the man did. He acted with great dishonesty and rightly was fired from his job. It is not his dishonest behaviour which is being praised but rather the steps he took to provide for his future. He saw that he could not become a farm labourer, still less did he want to be reduced to begging for his living. So he took the old resort of the good old bribe and thus indebted himself to other potential employers. And the point that Jesus is making is that 'the children of this world' are much more astute in planning their future than many of us Christians. Are we assured of our eternal future? Or have we squandered the Master's goods and used them in the wrong way? And how do we assure that future? What will guarantee that we will be welcomed into the arms of our loving God is the way we live each and every day. By just concentrating on this very day and making it a day of love and service and prayer, we will have absolutely nothing to worry about. It is the smartest thing we can do.