VOD: verse of the day

God's way of giving...

About four months ago...I was told by a friend to check out two verses. They had felt led to pray for me during a Sunday drive and from that these were revealed to reflect on...This is the first of two posts:

3"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.' 5So they went.

"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About 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?'

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 the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'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.'

13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Matthew 20:1-16 (New International Version)

Friends' Comment: about how God doesn't give us things based on what we've done, or how much we've done, but simply because He wants to give us gifts

I often, and I mean often, find myself being envious of God's generosity when I think things seem unfair...I think this is the first time where I've really made myself stop and think beyond the parable. I've heard it before and either dismissed it as something too simple or complicated to understand. Well now I've made myself reflect and reflect and reflect on this verse and this is a little of what I've realized. God's mercy is amazing and for everyone, but then to add reward(blessing) on top of that?? No one deserves that! We may see others getting things that we pray and hope for, but it's all God's timing and we put our trust in Him for what is best in our lives. All of us are sinners and should be thankful for things we DO have rather than comparing or looking at someone else. For we have no clue what that person is going through or what either of you will be going through in the future. I'd say my friend summed it up well.

posted by Tamara @ 2:46 PM