"So the last shall be first, and the first last."
Yesterday during the election, I heard alot about people who wanted to be first in line to vote. What I was thinking during the day was this is counter intuitive to what scripture says in Matthew.
This text is the heart of Matthew 20, and its not particularly an easy text. Generally most people would prefer being first in most things that are good or enjoyable. First choice is generally the best choice, Even in the expression "saving the best till last" – its not that you didn’t want it first, but rather it is a discipline which has taught us that sometimes there are other things which once done, will permit us to savor something with uninterrupted pleasure.
Everything around us says the best is first and the first is best – well almost everything – sometimes when it comes to work, or a call for volunteers – thought to let someone else go first, which may be to our advantage if we didn’t want to do it anyway. So, in most cases, my first choice will always be what is most advantageous, to me.
God’s ways are not man’s ways – and God reveals this in the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Those who got hired last, were paid first, but everyone received the same wage. It didn’t seem fair then, and it doesn’t seem fair now. But the point is not – everyone receives the same, the point is everyone receives what they need – the point is that God can be generous – and that we should not be jealous when God is generous – but to be thankful everyone receives what they need.
Our God is great and generous. Help me Lord to be more like you as I labor in this life for you.
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