Matthew 20: 1-16“For the
kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to
hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About
nine in the morning, 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 noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same
thing. 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?’ “‘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 five in the afternoon 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
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, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you
agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay
and go. I want to give the one 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.” I have wondered
about these verses of scripture lately, thinking “hmm so the first will be last
and the last will be first, Ah! God how? then I came to this realization once again that there
will be many surprises in heaven. A man or woman who genuinely gave their lives
to Christ and died shortly afterwards will go to heaven, however, the one who
has been born again for 50years for example but got distracted along the way e.g by the
cares of this world and stopped obeying God will not make it. Judas Iscariot was one of the first
disciples called by Jesus and he was even the treasurer in the group, yet his
end wasn’t good at all meanwhile, Paul who was the last disciple and even started
his ministry after Jesus had ascended into heaven was the one who worked the
hardest.
Heaven’s value system is far different from the
earth’s value system. For example, a woman that God gave the assignment to pray
specifically for a city and did it faithfully with all her heart will be great in
heaven unlike a great preacher of a megachurch who performed many signs and
wonders but didn’t obey God, those who are esteemed and respected much in this
world may be frowned at by God. Matthew 7:23
Dear brethren let
us not be distracted by social media or the world’s measuring system, keep
pursuing God and seek to do His will always, abide in Him and you will never
ever be ashamed. If God has called you to sell biros on earth but you sell
bread instead and you become a very successful and famous bread seller you will
lose your reward, though the world may celebrate you heaven will not, but if you
have been faithfully serving God, praying for the souls of many, doing His
will, yet no one sees you or acknowledges you, keep it up and don’t get
discouraged, God sees and he surely rewards.
“But
what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son,
go, work today in my vineyard’. He answered and said, “I will not, but
afterwards he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said
likewise. And he answered and said, “I go sir” but he did not go. Which of the
two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to
them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the
kingdom of God before you. Matt 21: 28-31
It
doesn’t matter how religious you are, or how much of a tongue-speaking prayer warrior
you are, how famous you are, how rich you are, how powerful or influential you
are, all of that doesn’t matter. What matters is ‘Are you doing the will of the
Father?’
Everything we
do should be borne out of love, if God is asking us to do something but we do
it grudgingly without love, it will not account for anything nor amount to
anything. Without love we are nothing and we have nothing. God is interested in
the state of our hearts because if we truly love Him, we will obey Him and
acceptably too.
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