[Or] am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous? Matthew 20:15 NABRE
Jesus shares a parable of a vineyard, day workers and the kingdom of heaven. Heaven is like a landowner who hires day workers throughout the day, early morning, mid-morning, noon, midafternoon and evening twilight, paying them all the same wage. When challenged by those who began early the landowner simply says I paid you the agreed upon wage. The intent of the parable is to indicate no matter when we come to desire the kingdom of God and work toward it, our reward will equal those who worked toward the kingdom of God their entire life. In the quoted verse we see the landowner’s response to the question of fairness in pay. The landowner in the story represents God and His defense of generosity should be a focus for us who desire the kingdom of God. God’s generosity cannot be outdone, we read in scripture those who have given up everything for Jesus’ name will receive one-hundred fold more in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:29).
There is truth in this question about being envious, a grudging, or lacking in generosity by those who either don’t wish equal pay or want more for doing more. Is it not common from a young age that we think things must be fair? If a brother gets an extra scoop of ice cream we cry foul, if a sister is allowed to stay up later in the night while we have to go to bed we say not fair. It would almost seem to be in our DNA, seeing something unfair must be protested. Thankfully God is not that way. Learning from God we should learn when someone has success we should cheer them. Being happy for others should be more our normal reaction, especially if we want to be like God.
What do you think about generosity? When are you generous?
Learning from God we should learn when someone has success we should cheer them. Being happy for others should be more our normal reaction, especially if we want to be like God. Share on X#bible #godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #generous #fair #Matthew #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #gospels #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways