Monday, February 27, 2012

Parable of the Vineyard Workers

    Today’s Reading:
  • Matthew 20:1 - 18
  • Psalm 25:1 - 15
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Matthew 20:1 - 18
Matthew chapter 20 opens with a parable about vineyard workers.  In this story a landowner hires a group of men to work for one day's wage.  Throughout the day this landowner steadily picks up more men and sets them to work.  He hires men throughout the day and up until almost the end of the day. 

At the end of the day the landowner pays the last men he hired a full day's wage.  He then proceeds to pay the men in the reverse order that he hired them in and payed them each a full day's wage, even those who had truly worked for the entire day.  Of course the workers who had been working the longest were upset, but they were hired on the terms of receiving a full day's wage.  The landowner had every right to be kind to the others. 

I can see how this parable would describe salvation.  There are those who have known and obeyed the Lord since they were first old enough to be accountable.  There are those (like myself) who always knew the Lord but failed to obey Him and/or failed to do His will for a point in their lives.  Then there are those who go through most of their lives never knowing the Lord and until they were near the very end.  Finally, there are those who never knew or just plain refused to know the Lord.

Those who never knew the Lord are like those who never worked at all; they will receive no payment, no salvation.  But those who only knew the Lord for a short time, those who knew and obeyed Him always, and those who are somewhere in the middle -- they all get the exact same salvation.  The Lord is really good to us, because I imagine those who fall into the first category are few and far between.  I am thankful the Lord is kind to me.

Psalm 25:1 - 15
This Psalm is another awesome prayer from David.  I don't have a whole lot to say about it -- just that I really enjoyed reading it.

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