Christian Commentary Encouraging Devotions

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.

So...God's the landowner.

He hires people.

They have a job to do and they get paid for it.

And He's got a workplace, the vineyard.

You can trust Him that what He's promised you He will deliver.

About the third hour he, the landowner, went out again.

And he went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.

Hiring workers to work in his vineyard.

About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around.

He hired them too.

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, the normal daily wage.

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?

Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money?

Or are you envious because I am generous?

Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?'

So the last will be first, and the first will be last. Matthew 20:1-16

Some points here.

God is just. He will give us what we deserve.

Don't compare yourself to others.

It's His money, not ours.

Don't be envious.

Be generous.

That's the nature of God.

Who are you working for anyway?

If you're doing what God has asked you to do, that's enough.

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,

but my ears You have pierced. Psalm 40:6

The fact you've maybe labored longer than others doesn't matter.

It's not the sacrifice that's important.

It's that your ears are pierced...or open.

Open to hear what He says to do and then, doing it.

One verse that stood out to me in this...

About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing.

And he said to them,

'Why do you stand here idle all day?'

They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.'

He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' Matthew 20:6-7

Has no one hired you?

Hear the call of God today to you...

You go into the vineyard too.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9