Sunday Reading: Matthew 20:1-16
Key Verse: Matthew 20:16
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few are chosen.
Devotion:
One of the amazing things that we find out about God and heaven is that He is willing to accept anyone and everyone into heaven if only they would believe. It does not matter how late in life or how early in life we accept that Jesus Christ is our Saviour, we will all get the same ultimate free gift of eternal life in heaven. What we do here on earth is going to change what rewards we do get in heaven, but that gift of being able to join God in heaven is open for all who accept Jesus as Saviour!
Just like the workers in the field, some people may well get upset that some will come to know Christ just before He actually returns or takes us out knowing that they have had to live a life of persecution for being a Christian for so long. But let’s take a second to think about what we are actually getting… Can you compare one day in your life to the whole of your life? Is that one day significant when compared with the (hopefully) many years that you have lived? So if the one day is not very significant, then what are a few decades going to count when we are looking at eternity!
We need to remember just how special a gift we receive through Christ and to remember that that gift is going to last for something called eternity – that in itself is pretty hard to grasp because we live within time and count everything in years, days, hours, minutes, whatever. Eternity means never having to worry about time (rather apt today because here in the UK our clocks went forward 1 hour today so we lost an hours sleep…)
Our gift of eternal life is not going to be diminished in any way. When we get to know Christ we know that we are starting out in a new life with Him and that we are going to enjoy that life. That may seem like just something we Christians say, but I know that it is true – I enjoy being a Christian and I love being comforted every day by my Saviour! You can too…
Points to Ponder:
Do you hold back from bad people?
Did Christ hold back from the tax collectors?
