Matthew 20:1-15
New International Version (NIV)
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[a] 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?’
As a special
education teacher I often times have a groups of students that come to my room
or the room of the teacher with whom I co-teach. There are times that these students rush to
line up because they want to be first. Something about being first just seems
so appealing. I know as the baby of the
family I have often wished that I could have been first. The first always seems to get just a little
extra because they were the first. My
sister, on the other hand, would say that the baby gets the extra
attention. Albeit it seems like we
always want the position that we were not chosen to have. When my students push and shove to be at the
front, that is the time I step in and say, “The first shall be last and the
last shall be first.” They don’t like
that very well but comply with my commands and trade places. Those in the middle are just stuck in the
middle!
Could you
imagine running a race and speeding to be the first to the ribbon only to be
told that the race was to see who could get there last? That would be quite a disappointment to work
so hard and find out you could have walked the course and won the race. In I Corinthians 9:24, Paul speaks of a race
where we are to run to win the prize exercising self-control along the way, and
in Hebrews 12:1 the author encourages us to run with endurance. So, why work so
hard and run so fast if the last will be first.
Well, I don’t really believe that this is what the scripture is saying
at all.
I believe that
what Jesus is saying to me today is that we should not get hung up on what everyone
else is doing but do, whatever we do for our Father in Heaven, with a glad
heart. We don’t always have to work for
a position but we should work to please.
I believe this is what pleases the Father. If all of my students got up from the table,
pushed in their chairs, and quietly walked towards the door and stood orderly
in a line, someone would always be first and someone would always be last,
however, I would be equally pleased with each one. I believe this is what Jesus is trying to
convey to me today. Don’t worry about
your position, don’t worry about your title, do the work that God has placed
you so generously in and do the work to please Him and Him alone. I may not get the pay I want or the title I
may feel I deserve but I will have pleased my Father in Heaven.
As you seek Him
remember that ultimately He is first and remain in that position each of us we
are last. Work to please your Good, Good
Father and don’t worry about what others are doing just focus on Him and the
work that He has called you to do.
Seek Him and
know that He is just.
Seeking Him with
all my heart,
Sheila
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