Hope this simple rendition will generate sufficient thought-provoking mental discourse in your inquisitive and discerning mind, that has endured and persevered with me thus far, surviving as victorious remnant to a glimpse of first-hand, some Christian masterpieces (in small caps) in production. Christian literary works pen down by Man, all by the grace of God and for the glory of God. Amen!
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Let us read from the passage extracted from Matthew 20:1-16 below.
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For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About 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?'
'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
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.'
"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.
'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.'
"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
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In Matthew 20:1-16, we read the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Verse 16 sums up the main theme of this parable, that is, Christians must always stay alert in their faith, else they face the danger of being judged by God. This reminder is timely for veteran Christians who are constantly enticed by the devil to forsake their humility and sole dependence on God, and to pursue self-righteousness, which leads to the ancient sin of pride, resulting in the downfall of Mankind.
Two points which we can ponder upon.
In this parable, we first observe that the workers were busy working in the vineyard, even though there was a huge shortage of manpower. Such familiar scenes are echoed in, I say, most churches today where Christians are more pre-occupied engaging in their ministry work than going out and inviting the unchurched or unsaved into the house of the Lord. Seriously, have we considered taking a break and ask God what He really want us to do?
Secondly, we discover the growing appetite of the workers in the vineyard. They were all promised to receive a denarius after the completion of their work. But the workers who were hired earlier became greedy and demanded for more compensation. The Ephesus church was reprimanded (Rev 2:4) for this exact reason when they started to forsake their first love. Now, in our zeal for God, have we also forgotten of our wretched sinful nature, that we are saved only by God’s grace through our faith and not by our own deeds (Eph 2:8-9)?
Therefore, we must always stay vigilant in our faith because the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1Pet 5:8). Resist the sin of pride and let verse 16 be a constant reminder to us that those who wish to be the first will be made the last in the kingdom of God.
(End)
