shrewd - adj.
- Characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical.
- Disposed to artful and cunning practices; tricky.
- Sharp; penetrating: a shrewd wind.
Honestly, I had a completely different understanding of what shrewd meant. What prompted this study was the thought of these scriptures:
Psalm 18:26
To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
2 Samuel 22:27 (this one I stumbled across)
To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
Matthew 10:11-16
"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Luke 16:1-12
Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg— I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
"'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
"Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'"
'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
I had understood it that God wants me to be a shrewd businessman. I don't think I have been very good at that, at least not at my current job. I thought being a shrewd businessman meant that I had to be a jerk, basically - evil, mean, bad, and nasty. So, after the unfortunate meeting I had this afternoon, I decided that's what needed to happen. I became an instant jerk to the customers, completely opposite of what I had been before. I now see that I am wrong on both accounts, and am glad I discovered this now, so that I can repent properly. Worldly sorrow vs. Godly sorrow. I definately want Godly sorrow. I have been contacted by a number of companies this last few weeks wanting to hire me, but I just feel very comfortable at my current job, and honestly don't want or desire or feel any kind of need for a change in employment. I would prefer to stay here until I graduate school. I really like the people and feel that God has a plan for me here. I just need to make the adjustment to being shrewd, instead of being a push-over or dominating. The place in between is where I need to be, that's what I see that is commanded in the bible. Like money, not let it rule my life. Use it, don't abuse it. Be shrewd for my employer. These are things very attainable for me. Pray for a radical change for me. Johnny out.
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