Do you seek God to bless others with the same fervor you ask Him to bless you? Peter inquired of the Messiah: “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (Matthew 19:27). Jesus responded with His Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard to paint a portrait of the kingdom of heaven. After hiring laborers to work the harvest from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for the customary day’s wage, the landowner hired additional workers at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m., agreeing to pay them “whatever is right” (Matthew 20:4). Jesus described the workers’ subsequent encounter with the landowner at the end of the day when they would receive their compensation.

When 6:00 p.m. rolled around, the landowner asked his foreman to call in the laborers and pay them their wages for the day, which was customary in the Law (see Deuteronomy 24:14-15). However, the landowner did something radical. He paid the one-hour workers first with a full day’s wage! The first group who had worked the entire day in the hot sun saw what had happened. They compared their service to that of the latecomers. Eagerly expecting more, they began to grumble when they received only their originally agreed-upon per diem of a denarius.

Do you see God’s eternal reward among all believers as unfair? Do you want certain persons who have served Him longer to receive more of a reward, either here on earth or on the other side? Pray the following to your Heavenly Father: “God, thank you for your immeasurable grace that saved a sinner like me. You are a gracious and generous God. Please shape my heart to be like yours.”

Episode 257: Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.