GOD’S WORD FOR FEBRUARY 4 ~ ~ John 6:43 ~ ~ “Jesus therefore answered and said to them, ‘Do not murmur among yourselves.’”

YOUR PERSONAL PROMISE:

Ps 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

The LORD will give grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold

From those who walk uprightly.

Continuing with John MacArthur’s lessons from the  parable of the owner of the vineyard.

In yesterday’s writing, the landowner said, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?”

The expression “evil eye” speaks of jealousy.  And let’s face it:  jealousy is an intrinsic aspect of fallen human nature.  Almost anyone at the end of that pay line would probably have felt some welling up of resentment.  After all, those men had worked the full twelve-hour day – most of it under the hot sun, while the workers hired at 5 p.m. began work under a cooling breeze at twilight and worked for only an hour.

But we must not lose sight of the fact that when the 6 a.m. crew were hired, they were quite happy with the offer of a denarius a day.  They began the workday in high spirits, thrilled that the landowner was being supremely generous with them.  He was offering more in wages than they could reasonably expect.

What changed their mood so drastically?  Just that someone less deserving (or so they thought) was treated with even MORE generosity.  Instantly they felt mistreated – envious of the other person’s good fortune.  Their whole attitude changed.  They couldn’t stand the thought that other workers would get the same pay without working as hard as they did.  Suddenly their gratitude and admiration for the landowner’s extreme generosity gave way to bitter resentment.

The eleventh-hour workers were of course ecstatic.  They understood better than anyone how graciously they had been treated.

( Luke 7:40-48 is another situation where Jesus is teaching the same thing – the idea that the greater the gift or grace, the greater the gratitude.)

   ^“And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’

So he said, ‘Teacher, say it.’

^‘There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?’

Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’

And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  ^{You gave Me no (kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”     Then He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’”}

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^{CHARLES SPURGEON ON CONTENTMENT:}

^{Furthermore, such contentment, being “full of God” enabled believers to trust God during hardship. This is why Spurgeon said, “one ought not to murmur” if one is a believer in Jesus Christ. Murmuring was an “easy thing,” indeed, “anyone can murmur, anyone can grumble, anyone can complain,” but Christians “ought to be content.” After all, believers’ “delight in God” would “sweeten it all” because, in Spurgeon’s experience, delighting in God was “more than half the battle.”}

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