Always Fair

“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage?” Matt.20:13.

Jesus told this story [Matt.20:1-15] to depict Himself and His Kingdom. The story starts: “the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing. “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’ “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “The landowner told them ‘then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’  “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first” Matt.20:1-8. The people he hired first were probably wondering what was going on. It is natural; I would ask, – is it not first come first served? But in the Kingdom of God it is not first come first serve. You can be at something for years, somebody else can start today and overtake you and God will say, I’ve been fair.

^“When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage” Matt.20:9. The work-men at the back probably smiled to themselves, saying, now we get it. They want to pay the people first so that they will give us our own bounty. But when they got their pay-cheque, it was the same day’s pay and they were upset and they went to the landowner. We should have gotten at least twelve times more than these workers because we worked twelve hours more than they did. And this is what he said; “I have paid you what we agreed, I have paid them based on my discretion. I have not wronged you but I have been kind to them. Are you now upset that I am kind to people?” [Retold from Matt.20:1-15].

Immediately, I learnt two ways of relating to God. You can relate with God based on dogma [what you deserve], or you can relate with God based on His discretion. So imagine God says to me, I want you to do a work for Me and I say, yes Sir, tell me about the work. So He tells me about the work and I set out to do the work. And then He says, you have not talked about your wage and I say, Lord I leave that to your discretion. But some people will insist on terms and conditions first before they do work for God. He agrees but guess what? God’s discretion will be far much more than you can ever think or imagine you are worth.

Prayer: Father, teach me! Teach me how to act and when to act with You, in Jesus Name.