Scripture Reading:

Matthew 20

Please comment below with your conversation with God and/or insights from today’s Scriptures.

You can answer the following:

1. What are your overall thoughts about the chapter?

2. Which verse or passage impacted you the most?

3. What is your prayer to God brought on by this chapter?

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Chapter Notables:

1. Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard - verses 1-16

2. Jesus speaks of His death for the third time - verses 13-15

3. The mother of disciples asks for Jesus to give her sons positions in His Kingdom - verses 20-28

4. Two blind me receive their sight - verses 29-34

Work That Thing | Lemuel Ayudtud

Time is limited. We can’t “save” time and we can’t “make” time. There is no going back once we pass over time. There’s only 24 hours in a day. There is no less for you as there is no more for me. God has given us all the same amount of time.

The Parable of the Workers (or the Penny) Jesus speaks of a landowner who went to hire workers for his field. He started early in the morning, once again at noon, then midday, and finally at the end of the day. Everyone was promised a penny or a set wage to work for him for the day. One thing we find consistent is the call to work. People were idlers, they were just standing by doing nothing.

The Bible tells us that whatever our hands find to do, we should do it with all our might. Let that sit for a minute! Take pause and consider that! And you know the reason given by the Scripture as to why we should do so? Because once life is over, it’s over. There is no more work after all our time is done. No increasing in knowledge, no learning or getting wisdom. No more dreams, no more goals, no more effort or value add to people. Once our time is complete those we leave behind will be left with what we have done with our time.

Life is short, y’all. Moses, in the book of Psalms, admonishes us to consider our life. His prayer is for God to teach us to number our days. Prior to that prayer, Moses tells us that our days are about 70 years, maybe even 80 if we are strong. After that all our strength and our labor is finished and we pass on. The prayer is a reflection of the limited time we have. So the question is what are we trading our time for?

Here are some things to consider:

1. Do you recognize the time you actually have?

2. Do you value it? If so, how is that value being reflected by its use?

Since we can’t generate more time, the best thing to do is to work. Jesus, in the record of John, stated, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” (John 9:4) Is it possible that God has also set a work for us to work? Is it possible that we have assignments that need to be completed before our day turns into night? What are we doing to meet our assignment?

Let’s go back to Ecclesiastes and let’s break down what the Scripture tells us about what is in our days that we should be pursuing while alive:

1. Working - laboring, pursuing business, undertaking enterprise, achievements, deeds, creation of product, the work of God. The Hebrew word has been translated to art (creativity) and needlework (crafting).

2. Reasoning - exercise of knowledge, expression of intelligence, accounting. The vibe of this word is about learning and working our brains. It’s increase in education.

3. Knowledge - knowledge, perception, skill, discernment. The Hebrew word used here is also used in the Tree of Knowledge as in to know through reflection of deeper things, including the things of God.

4. Wisdom - skill (in war), wisdom (in administration), shrewdness, prudence (in religious affairs), wisdom (ethical and religious). It has the undertones of wit and a good sense and exercise of creativity and innovation, of bringing all the previous three together to reach one’s potential.

We can use time, waste time or maximize time. God, through Solomon (the writer of Ecclesiastes) tells us that in death, there is no growth, progress, increase or expression. It’s only through the time we have. And all of it comes only through work.

The mother of James and John, the Apostles, wanted Jesus to give her sons positions in the Kingdom, but Jesus said that those are only reserved by the Father. Of course the rest of the disciples were pretty ticked off by James and John because of their mother, so Jesus had took the opportunity to share with them something. He summoned them all together to teach them about the value of the Kingdom. While the world’s system is about who gets on top, in the Kingdom of God the top are those who serve. Even the Lord Jesus came to serve—serve to the point of death.

Is it possible that in Jesus’ reply we find the true value of work? In the world that we live in, work is to meet needs and get some wants. And if we work hard, it’s for our benefit. What if we work with the mindset of serving? What if instead of thinking of what we can benefit from working, what if we consider who will benefit from our working? What if instead of thinking about sitting on the “right hand” and the “left hand” of a “kingdom” (or whatever gain we may get for working), we consider the people that may benefit from our work? What if we consider the exercise of working, reasoning, knowledge, and wisdom not as something that will solely benefit us, but it is for those around us and beyond? What if we want to work so that more people will be reached for the Kingdom of God?

What if we gain a degree, so we can serve more people? What if we start a business, so we can serve more people? What if we create product, so we can provide work for people? What if we create, so that others will live life better? What if we trade our idleness or even fear or comfort or whatever is the reason why we are not working in greater capacity, so we can serve in greater capacity? Soon we will die. In our deaths, was our life a “ransom for many” or did we just used it for a small few?

In Jesus’ Parable of the Workers, at the end of the day everyone received the same pay. Those that worked from 5pm received the same as those who worked from 9am. When the master went to pay them, the workers were incensed. How can people that worked the longest get the same pay as those who worked the least? God is not unjust. They all got paid the same, but some didn’t get to maximize their day. Guess what? At the end of our lives, we all have that one life we lived. That’s God’s equality at work: one life for everyone. The difference: those that work it the longest will maximize it the best. Get up and work it.

Lord, Jesus, teach me to see serving as my work. Help me, Lord, to see who or what I’m affecting when I work. Help me not keep my eyes on the pay but rather on the outcome of my work—not as a job well done, but by those who I serve at the end. Teach me after to put full effort in what I do, and, Lord, help me to see how much more I can serve if I maximize the potential You have placed in me. I ask this in Your Name, Jesus, amen.