Hey! That's Not Fair!

Daily Reading:  Matthew 20 

Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? (Matthew 20.15) 

Devotional Thought: "Hey!  That's not fair!  You let her do it!"  As a parent, I have heard that statement hundreds of times.  My daughters wanted to make sure that I didn't give something to one of their sisters that they didn't get, too - unless, of course, it was punishment!  Children have a knack at keeping track. 

That's what Jesus' parable of "The Workers in the Vineyard" is about.  It’s one of those parables of contrast rather than comparison.  God’s grace is contrasted to what we would expect in the economy of this world.  He was making a statement about how God’s grace works. 

As you read it you will quickly understand the plot.  People who were hired first – and worked the entire day – thought that they deserved more pay than the ones hired last – who worked only an hour.  We could agree with that, couldn’t we?  But, this parable is not about wages and work in this world.  It is about God’s amazing grace! 

Thanks be to God!  Whether someone is saved as a child and lives their entire life serving God or is saved on their deathbed, narrowly escaping hell’s flames – that person is welcomed into God’s rich reward.  We may not think it, but that is just.  Why?  Because we are granted eternal life on the basis of grace through faith in Christ who fulfilled the just requirements of the law.  

We don’t earn or deserve God's grace.  God – the Creator of all things and the Author of all law – makes the rules.  He decides how to dispense his grace and mercy.  And, aren’t you glad that he freely bestows them upon undeserving people such as us? 

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you, in your grace, have saved me.  I pray also that you would save others who are lost… right up to the moment of their departure from this life and entrance into the next.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 90:1-6

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You return man to dust and say, "Return, O children of man!"

4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning:

6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.