Hello! Hello!
Yes, the last shall be first and the first shall be last. Let the one with ears hear this trumpet loud and clear!! The owner of the vineyard will give each of his workers one denarius. It will not matter the time the worker began working, as long as by the end of the day, all were found toiling the land. He will give whatever is right. Matthew 20 :1-16 says:-
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Let us be honest for just one second here. Do we as believers act like those hired early in the morning or those that came one hour to end of the day’s work? Do we feel so justified for more blessings from God because we were raised in Christian families and got born again at very early stages in our lives? Do we feel that others are more sinful than us and when they finally receive Jesus Christ, we are envious of the great work of the Lord in them?
I once was. At least the one that felt was so righteous because of my “good deeds”. The one that felt entitled to all the blessings the heavens could pour on a human being here on earth. I may have not said it out loud but just because my thoughts were filled with such a horrible mentality does not make it any better. It may actually be the same if you ask me. I still wonder where I got the standards/benchmark to match myself against. I feel I need to slap myself silly sometimes for such a stinking attitude. So here I am confessing my sins that I may be healed.
The plan today is to have a short post, so let me see if my objective will be achieved!
What is really the source of such a scenario in the church? in the Body of Christ? in God’s Kingdom? I will not speak for others but only for myself. Mine was pride which I shared in a previous post some time back including the video below.
When I look back, am grateful that I was gracefully broken. That I was disciplined by my loving father. He loves me enough to correct me. Did you notice in the passage above that the owner of the vineyard did not take back the denarius from the workers that complained? Rebuking them he did, but did not take back what was already given to them, their reward. I want my reward of eternal life but I want to receive it with the right attitude. It matters to me that I please my Father in all that I do, even in the small things that are not so popular. Pride blinded me to the right path of living. The right way according to God. No matter how great our gifts are, without love we are nothing. Let my gifts match how much love I show unto others. God has been gracious to me over the years and I should praise Him more for being the same to others. Gracious, Just and Faithful!! Most of the time for me this is easier said than done but that is the Jesus way!! Love is the Jesus way! Is it yours?
Be Blessed! See you next week Friday!
EsperanzaMaishani 