A Fair Deal
READ: Matthew 20:1-16
People want to be paid fairly for the amount of work they do. If you spend three hours cutting grass for a neighbor, and your friend worked only one hour, you wouldn’t expect to receive the same wages. If your neighbor paid each of you three dollars, your aching back and calluses would remind you that you hadn’t been treated fairly. You would try to forget that your neighbor promised you only three dollars before you started working.
Jesus once told a parable very similar to this. Field workers were hired at different times of the day, but were paid the same wages when the work was done. The point of Jesus’ story was to show how it is with people who serve Him.
Some people, like you perhaps, become God’s children in Baptism when they are babies. They love and serve Jesus all their lives. Some people don’t learn about Jesus until they are grown up. Others become friends of Jesus when they are grandmothers or grandfathers.
Jesus wanted His disciples and us to know that He loves all His friends the same. He loves those people who have just recently come to faith in Him as much as those who have followed Him for a lifetime. We may not like such a deal. We may think that we have been short-changed.
But Jesus asks us to be happy about every new friend He receives. He reminds us that someday all of us will be together in heaven, sharing God’s love. Newcomers and old-timers alike will be blessed.
Enjoy God’s love. His love for others doesn’t lessen His love for you.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: Do any of us deserve God’s grace? Why then should we think it unfair if some people receive God’s grace later in life? Why can we be happy over everyone who repents and believes in Jesus?
PRAYER SUGGESTIONS: Ask that you will never become selfish. Ask Jesus to help you receive the love He has given you. Also ask that He will help you to share it with others.
