Thought for Today: “Shrewd is Good”

Being shrewd has a negative connotation with many. They look upon someone who is shrewd as being cunning and tricky. The word comes from a Middle English word “shrewd’ which means a curse, and is something that was evil, bad, wicked, and mischievous.

But that is not how it is understood in the Greek, and in Jesus’s parable of the Unjust Servant (Luke 16:13). In the Greek it means showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters, and capable of taking advantage of a situation.

In fact, in our passage, Jesus commended the servant’s shrewdness.

While the unjust servant did wrong, the master praised his ability to understand what was about to happen and make the necessary arrangements.

Look at what Jesus said, “The master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are shrewder in their generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:8)

Merriam-Webster defines being shrewd as “having or showing an ability to understand things and to make good judgments: mentally sharp or clever.”

Being shrewd is then having the ability to discern and discriminate what is going on in the world, and then based upon God’s word, taking the appropriate actions.

In the Old Testament this fits perfectly with the sons of Issachar, whom the Bible said, “the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” (1 Chronicles 12:32)