Labor And Wages

Matthew 20:1-16

Have you read this scripture before?  You might have, but it might not be that familiar to you.  It was familiar to me.  My thoughts were, “too bad, so sad.”  This particular scripture never applied to my life, until recently.  Actually, it has applied for a little over a year now, I just didn’t realize it, or maybe the Lord waited until the last day or so to reveal it to me.  I have had to remind myself of this scripture over and over in order to keep me from getting angry.  Have you figured out what the scripture says?  Well just in case you haven’t, let me type it up for you,

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

¹"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. ²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' ⁵So they went.

   "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. ⁶About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'

⁷" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
      "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

⁸"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

⁹"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹²'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

¹³"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

¹⁶"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

 

How this has applied to me is, I might not like what is happening, but I agreed to what I agreed with, and I have to do what I agreed with and IF I do, I know the Lord will honor it.  It doesn’t matter if it is fair or not.  Bottom line.