QT 2/10/2022 Matt 20:1-16, We need to be grateful!

Matthew 20:1–16 (ESV) —

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

 

NOTE: Israel has been serving (or at least knowledgeable of) God for more than a thousand years. The Gentiles will receive salvation soon, and the reward will be exactly the same. I think the difficulty with the parable is that we don't realize our utter moral failure before God. If we did, we would have no issue with whoever God chooses to save, no matter how evil or how destructive the person has been to the kingdom. Salvation is a free gift, and is totally undeserved. We should be grateful to be saved. We should be grateful for eternal life. We should be grateful to be adopted into the family of God. In and of ourselves, we are unworthy of all God has done for us.

 

PONDER:

1. Am I truly grateful for my salvation?
2. Am I grateful for the salvation of others, no matter what kind of life they lived in the past?

 

PRAYER: Father, I am grateful for salvation and for the life you have given me. I wish more people could know the joy I have because of my relationship with you. If I have any grumbling, it is because so few "christians" live the life of gratefulness and relationship.