Vineyard
For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
"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.'
"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men 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.'
"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Being calculative with God?. In serving God, it is natural of us as human being to ask what is it for us to serve God. In fact, In Matt 19, Peter asked exactly the same thing, which was why Jesus told this parable. And in this parable, I realise that the first group of workers demanded something of an agreement and contract and was contracted to be paid a denarius for the day. But the other groups who were recruited later did not. While we want rewards for serving God, but are we being calculative? Do we calculate the cost and ask God to bless us what we gave up? Do we allow God to bless us in the way that He wanted to bless us? How many times do we normally see people leaving because they did not get what they thought God had promised them?
Trusting that God will provide. Matthew 6:33 says clearly that if we serve Him, He will provide for our needs. In serving God and sacrificing some of our stuffs like time or opportunities or what, do we really trust God in providing our needs? I was thinking the other day, people often ask why people like me dun go overseas or go SEP etc etc, to boost my own profile and CV. But I was just realising that by not doing so, by spending most of my vacation serving God, I was being more entrepreneurial than other people had thought, because I was taking a much more greater risk. Yet it is a risk with 100% return. Perhaps people ought to start investing in God rather than structured products....
"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
"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.'
"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men 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.'
"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Being calculative with God?. In serving God, it is natural of us as human being to ask what is it for us to serve God. In fact, In Matt 19, Peter asked exactly the same thing, which was why Jesus told this parable. And in this parable, I realise that the first group of workers demanded something of an agreement and contract and was contracted to be paid a denarius for the day. But the other groups who were recruited later did not. While we want rewards for serving God, but are we being calculative? Do we calculate the cost and ask God to bless us what we gave up? Do we allow God to bless us in the way that He wanted to bless us? How many times do we normally see people leaving because they did not get what they thought God had promised them?
Trusting that God will provide. Matthew 6:33 says clearly that if we serve Him, He will provide for our needs. In serving God and sacrificing some of our stuffs like time or opportunities or what, do we really trust God in providing our needs? I was thinking the other day, people often ask why people like me dun go overseas or go SEP etc etc, to boost my own profile and CV. But I was just realising that by not doing so, by spending most of my vacation serving God, I was being more entrepreneurial than other people had thought, because I was taking a much more greater risk. Yet it is a risk with 100% return. Perhaps people ought to start investing in God rather than structured products....
Ah... amen, Uncle! "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." :D
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