Saturday 15 December 2007

Saturday Reading: Matthew 20:1-16
 
Key Verse: Matthew 20:16
16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
 
Devotion:
There are so many times in life when we think that we have been outdone or treated unequally. Maybe we have come across a similar situation to this parable where we have received less for doing more, but what we have to remember is that we agreed to doing that work in the first place and for the wage that was offered to us because we thought it was fair.
 
The one thing that we think would cause the most commotion is that of going to heaven... Why should someone be a good Christian all their lives so that they can get to heaven, whereas someone who has never given thought to God for all of their lives but does so in their last days also gets to heaven... Why should the Jews have to go through so much as a people and yet other gentile go through so little in comparison... So many questions can be asked like that, and they are. But what people are forgetting is that they are comparing two totally different things. Trying to compare this life with the next is impossible. We are bound by time and all manner of things in this life. In the next, we will not be.
 
The most important thing to remember is that the gift of God is His to give. We do not have control over what He should give to us. We are the ones agreeing to follow Him, to follow the truth. We are the ones that have seen that we are doing things wrong and that we need to turn our lives around. We are the ones that are in need. Whether we find that out just before we die or soon after we can understand things is immaterial. We will all get the same reward of everlasting life because that is what God has promised to us. How many others we can convince on the way will be our reward here on earth while we still labour. There is no better joy than to see others find the joy you have found!
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel hard done by?
 
How much would you do for everlasting life?