“God’s kingdom is like a man who owned some land. One morning, the man went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the workers one silver coin for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work…8 At the end of the day, the owner of the field said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them all. Start by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the ones I hired first.’

Matthew 20:1-2,8 ERV

In Matthew 20:1-19 we see Jesus giving a parable, or an analogy of a landowner hiring people to take care of his vineyard. He begins hiring people from around six AM to about eleven AM to work his field. Each hour the landowner goes out and grabs a handful of people to work, and he mentions they will get paid a silver coin for their hard work. Some of the people work the whole five hours, some only three, and even still there were others who only worked an hour. At noon the owner sends his assistant to pay each worker, starting with those he hired last then working his way down to the very first ones. When the ones who worked five hours realize they got the same pay as those who only worked an hour they became furious! By earthly standards this isn’t fair, yet what Jesus was showing us is how His grace works when people choose to follow Him. If someone chooses to give their lives to the Lord when they are 34 years old, they don’t receive less grace and love than someone like me who’s been following him for the last 29 years – that’s over half my life! The Lord doesn’t show favoritism when it comes to a person’s faith walk, and neither should we. Grace isn’t fair, justice is, and by God’s standards we are all meant for hell because we just don’t measure up. That is why Jesus chose to come and live a perfect life and die on the cross in our place. He was the spotless lamb or the pure sacrifice for sin and death so we don’t have to be convicted for our wrongs. We can repent and ask Jesus to be our savoir and choose to follow Him. When we do this we receive God’s grace not judgement because it “took us so long to come back to Him”. No we are welcomed into His loving arms like the Father who ran to meet his son in Luke 15:11. Aren’t you glad God chooses to show us grace and mercy, and His love is truly unconditional? In knowing that, how can we extend God’s grace and love to others today? I look forward to your comments below!

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for giving your life to redeem mine so I can spend eternity with you when I leave this life and enter the next. I thank you that as I model your character here on earth you will bless me and help me be a blessing. Help me to extend the love and grace you’ve so generously shown me to others today.

In your beautiful name, Amen

Thanks for reading ladies, have an amazing week and remember you are loved!

Angie