Something To Think About

If you're in the position where you see others being elevated higher, or being blessed greater than you feel you deserve for yourself, remember the parable of the workers in Matthew chapter 20. In our daily lives, it's easy to become jealous of others, or to feel entitled to a certain level of success based on our efforts. Often, we can become angry if we're not the main recipients of "the good stuff". We feel we deserve better because we've worked harder or longer than others. In our minds, it's only fair that effort equals reward. To the world, it's all about performance.

I don't think it's how the kingdom of God works.

After listening to this parable via podcast and letting it really sink in, I think one possible moral of the story is salvation and grace. If the man in this story represents God, and we are the workers, it is actually quite relieving to think of the story in this way.

If we decide to turn our lives over to the Lord, we'll find that He offers the same level of grace extended to the saints who came before us. If we make ten mistakes, or ten thousand, His grace is sufficient to cover us. Whether we make the decision to follow Christ as a child, or turn to Him on our death bed, we'll be saved. Salvation is timeless. It can't be earned, but is freely given to anyone who genuinely seeks Jesus.

Matthew 20:1-16 (The Message)

A Story About Workers

1-2 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3-5"Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.

5-6"He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?'

7"They said, 'Because no one hired us.' "He told them to go to work in his vineyard.

8"When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'

9-12"Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'

13-15"He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?'

16"Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

Good Night