1 “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 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?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
I mean to be humble about it, but over the years I have led many people to faith in Christ while they were on their death bed. I’m a chaplain. It’s what I do.
I admit there have been times I’ve thought it’s not fair. They “live like hell and go to heaven” While the rest of us spend our entire lives trying to live within the confines of our faith…not always successfully.
It could be Charles Manson. It could by Osama Bin Laden. Wouldn’t we be surprised to see them in glory?! More likely we’d be scandalized.
How could I possibly NOT rejoice when a person comes to faith? Well, I do actually rejoice…every time…it just occurs to me that it’s less than fair.
It’s where human pettiness gets embarrassing…
After all, a man’s salvation does not cost me a thing. Since it cost Christ everything, I guess Christ can decide what’s fair. Furthermore…when I came to Christ…I thought the bargain was more than fair. How could that assessment turn into such small-mindedness?
Whenever our field of vision is cast horizontally rather than vertically we become myopic.
Live boldly out there today…
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