FEBRUARY 1

OUR PERSONAL PROMISE:

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

Psalm 91:15

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THE DAILY WORD:

James 1:5~ ~ “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

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Continuing the discussion about grace and justice in God’s dealings with man, in John MacArthur’s book, “Parables”

In Matthew 20:1-15, Jesus tells a parable that illustrates those principles:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.  Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’  They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner,  saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’  But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’”

Like all parables, this one ais to teach a profound spiritual truth.  Jesus is not making a point about fair labor laws, minimum wage, equity in our business dealings, or any other earthly principle.  He is describing how grace works in the sphere where God rules.

This parable belongs to the later ministry of Christ, when he was ministering in Perea, east of the Jordan river, opposite Jericho.  This was the same region where John the Baptist’s ministry had flourished.  Jesus had retreated there after some leading Pharisees tried to seize Him (John 10:39-40).  The weeks He spent in Perea were some of the most fruitful of His earthly ministry.  The area was a barren wilderness, but throngs came to hear Jesus from all over Galilee and Judea.  “Many came to Him and said, ‘John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.’  And many believed in Him there.”  (John 10:41-42).

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Proverbs 21:3

To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Matthew 6:3

But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

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