1 John 2:1-2 – “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” NKJV
Here we come to one of those words in the Bible that many look at, read, and pass by without giving much thought to – PROPITIATION. John tells us in this passage that his purpose was to help them come to the place so that they “do not sin.”
However, he also recognized that they were human beings and were subject to stumbling and succumbing to temptation, thereby entering into “acts of sin.” His pastor heart compelled him to address the truth that “if we do sin (or as someone said – “when we sin”), we have an Advocate (someone to plead our case in the legal court of heaven), and that one is Jesus who paid the price for our redemption. No greater Attorney could be found than Jesus Himself. His standing with the Father is unequaled by any.
John tells us that Jesus was the “propitiation for our sins.” He is the ATONEMENT. He paid the ultimate and complete sacrifice or price for our redemption. Jesus came among us, lived as a man subject to temptations like we are, and lived above sin. He satisfied the demands of divine justice and became the sacrificial lamb for the SIN OF THE WORLD.
Through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, He has fulfilled the legal requirements of divine justice to break the hold and power of the devil on our lives. We no longer belong to the devil. We belong to God; whenever we fall short and miss the mark, the devil is Johnny on the Spot to remind God and us of that fact. That is where Jesus comes in. He receives our repentance, presents us before the Father, and identifies His work, the covering of His blood on our sins and our repentance. He is our Attorney!
Therefore, instead of allowing the devil to beat you up over sin, realize that you have one pleading your case that is worthy – Jesus! So instead of giving up and throwing in the towel, saying it is no use, recognize that it is “in Him” and “through Him” that we live and move and have our being. Our hope is not in our ability but in Him. Our hope is not in our perfection but in His. Our hope is not in reaching a point where we have no flaws but in Him who is flawless.
As you go through this day, refuse to allow sin to beset your course. If you sin, immediately go to your attorney – Confess that sin, receive His pardon, and allow Him to present your case in the court of heaven. You are part of the redeemed of the Lord, so rejoice!
May God be with you as you go through the day! Blessings1
Psalm 11:3 – “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
That sounds like bad news and even has an element of hopelessness in it, right? Yes and no, for it depends on your perspective and your understanding of Who God is.
Let me share with you what filled my heart and mind and occupied my time of meditation upon the Word of God today.
As I prayed, pondered, meditated, read, and contemplated, Psalms 1 & 11 captured my attention. I include the opening of Psalm 2 in that consideration. The Lord was speaking to me powerfully from the Psalms.
Psalm 2:1 – “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples meditate on a vain thing.”
But I must bring this question to the table, “What foundations?” There are multiple dimensions we can consider.
The foundations of moral righteousness.
The foundations of human government.
The foundations of the family.
The foundations of the church.
God established order, but man, influenced by the devil, has been shredding them for millenniums. This is not a political or social creation. Those are byproducts of the root cause – SIN!
Modern philosophy and ancient philosophy are at war with God, morality, truth, and biblical principles & precepts. Our world (people) find themselves in a state of decay, declension, and depravity that is destroying everything.
Foundations are being destroyed so much that many are losing faith. They see the decline but not the hand of God. They see the church living like and with the same fear as the world. They trust the arm of flesh because they have lost hope in the arm of God.
Is there an answer? YES!
CONSIDER PSALM ONE
In verses one through three, we have a powerful revelation and application that can lead us to victory in our Christian walk.
Do not walk in the counsel (faux wisdom) of the ungodly. The contrast is to walk in the counsel of God. It is not enough to not do evil. We must do good.
Do not stand in the way of the sinner. (Live as they lived). Our walk is the opposite of the way of sinners. We are those who follow the precepts and principles of God’s Word.
Do not sit in the seat of scoffers. (This is not doubters and mockery, but all doubt toward God). Our walk is the exact opposite. We walk in commitment and total confidence in the Word, trusting God.
MEDITATE on God, His Word, His Person, Promises, and Power.
When we do that, we will have firm foundations and be like the firmly planted tree by the living waters.
We will be productive and live in God’s power and authority.
We will be fruitful, and rather than growing useless with age, you will stay flourishing, vibrant, and alive.
We will prosper in All Things.
We must have faith and believe God intends this for us.
We have to see it with the eyes of the Spirit.
The danger is that unless we see this, we will not pursue it and will never be those who live in expectancy! We are to Walk in God’s counsel, Sit in God’s presence, meditate upon, study, read, and apply God’s Word.
Hear me, Please – God says this is you. The question becomes, “What do you say?” Do we agree with God and become the people He says we are, or do we agree with the devil, a negative view and decline? It is a choice!
God says that We are Victorious, so we need to set our hearts, minds, souls, and strength to receive. The seeds we sow will determine the harvest we receive. What harvest do you desire?
God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!
Lamentations 3:22-24 – “The lovingkindnesses of Yahweh indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24 “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I wait for Him.” LSB
As I read, prayed, pondered, and meditated upon the Word, the LORD, and life, I was reminded of this truth – God’s Love and Mercy Never End! Hallelujah! The compassion of God is beyond measure. His love, mercy, and compassions are new every morning because He is faithful, and He is our portion! He said, “My eyes pour down unceasingly without stopping.” Then he set a time on it – “Until Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees.” If He sees, He will act, was the idea.
There are many things to be gleaned from 1 Corinthians. However, 3:21-23 is an indispensable catalyst for right thinking and producing right living. “…For ALL THINGS belong to you.” (v.21). He repeated this at the end of verse 22. Then in verse 23, he declared, “And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”
Have you noticed that we worry and fret over stuff? We see our troubles, needs, lacks, powerlessness, and inadequacy, BUT here we read Everything Belongs to Us! Wow! Did you say EVERYTHING? But… The problem is, we do not believe it! We believe it theoretically, but it is not who we are.
We profess it because it is in the Bible, BUT we do not see it as ours experientially. We do not see ourselves as worthy or spiritual enough. Satan steals our hope and faith, and we relegate that truth to the super saints or to be enjoyed in eternity rather than now.
However, “if” it is true that ALL THINGS belong to us because we belong to Christ and He belongs to God – Why Do We Struggle with The Promise?
We must have our minds reprogrammed. The only way to do that is to guard our lips. Protect our eyes and ears (what we watch & listen to). Be careful how and what you allow to come into your consciousness.
Then, we must begin the process of changing how we talk. It is essential that we say what God says, not what we see or hear from the devil, others, or circumstances. We must train ourselves to agree with God and say what He says. Agree with God, not circumstances or opinions.
A truth we miss is that whatever we agree with, we give power to. Abraham believed in hope. He hoped for what he believed. It was hopeless & and impossible, But God Said, and he chose to agree with God.
I challenge you today to decide that no more negative or defeatist words or thoughts will be in you. Determine that if God said it, no matter what you see, you will agree with God even to death. Nothing will shake you from your confidence in Him.
If God is telling the truth and He is, then we are more than conquerors through Jesus and can do all things through our Lord! You are victorious if you do not give up, give in, or give out!
This is a new day of victory; rejoice!May the grace of God keep you in perfect peace and bless you richly!
Psalm 3:3-6 – “But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. 4 I was crying to the LORD with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah. 5 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me. 6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.” NASB
Someone recently said something that I have heard hundreds of times, “Growing old is not for sissies.” I responded, “Life is not always easy, but worth it.” The person I was talking to said, “True, if…” I waited, and they said no more. Before I could ask what the “if” was, the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart, “THE IF” is Me; the IF is GOD!”
I have often thought about Life and Living. As a minister and having served as a pastor of congregations, it has been my joy and sorrow to deal with people in varying situations and stages of life. Joy to see the work of God in bringing them to peace and victory, and sorry when I could not help them find the solace and peace they craved.
In life, we encounter difficulties. That statement makes me Mr. Obvious, but as simplistic and broad as it is, it is true. None of us have immunity from problems, nor are we exempt from enemies who desire to reduce us to nothingness. Jesus declared as much in the Gospels. However, He also said that we were not to fear or fret because we could live in the confidence that our Heavenly Father desires to ‘give us the kingdom.’ Jesus promised to bring us abundant life and make life worth living. That is a tremendous comfort to me.
In the midst of difficulties, the Psalmist declared, “Lord, you are a shield about me.” In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word shield is protection but one of the imageries was that of the ‘hide of a crocodile.’ I laughed and rejoiced when I read that. Ancient civilizations have historically viewed the crocodile’s hide as impenetrable. That is the clear message of the Psalmist, “God, you are like the hide of a crocodile, impenetrable, in your protective covering.” That is enough to make me want to shout, Hallelujah! Well, Hallelujah!
In the Book of Job, when the devil appeared before the Throne of God, God baited him with Job, and the devil’s objection was, “But you have a hedge or a shield about him.” God did not deny that. In Zechariah 2:5, God said, “For I, declared the Lord, will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.” That was His promise for Jerusalem, and I believe His desire and promise for each of us. He is our shield, buckler, glory, and the giver and sustainer of life. We do not have to fear what is outside when we fear, reverentially, God and serve Him. That is the “If” of my friend’s statement.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Hell is not God’s desire for us but Heaven and Life. Jesus did not come to destroy but to bring Life. Therefore, when facing difficulty, disappointment, and even depression, look upward and rejoice because our God is “A Shield About Us!” And if God is for us, it does not matter who is against us; they are no match for Him. No problem, disease, difficulty, person, or devil in hell is a match for Him!
Put on the whole armor of God and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus. Allow the Spirit of God to enable you to pull down strongholds. Allow the Life of God to flow richly in your hearts and minds; as you do, you will discover that Life is worth the effort!
God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!
John 14:26 – “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” KJV
I tremble when I hear some people talk about the Holy Spirit. I hear Him referred to as it or spoken of as some ethereal apparition rather than a real person and member of the Godhead. Likewise, I heard people talk about our Lord Jesus Christ as though He were not a present reality and the Son of God. I hear Him being called God, but His directives and commandments are treated shockingly cavalierly.
Some live and speak as though the Son of God was a mere ideal and treat much of the Bible as though it were myth, not truth. In the words of patriarchs of the faith who have been promoted to the other side, “To follow a merely human savior is to follow no savior at all.”
If the work of Christ on the Cross is mere theory, we will never recognize or realize the power of the Resurrection and the need for the Comforter to Come into our daily lives. Someone said, “If Mary’s son was not the Son of God, then in a real sense, no other man is.” That would mean that we are hopeless as well as helpless. But we are not because He is, and He Lives!
Church creeds are valuable only to the degree those doctrines impact our lives and make a difference in our lives. If we used that as a test for doctrine, then I would contend that in far too many churches and lives, the Bible has no practical value. It is not obeyed, believed, and embraced as life or death. In that, the Holy Spirit is ignored, and we miss the value of the Promise of Jesus that when the Holy Spirit of Truth would come, He would guide us into all truth. He has come; why do so many walk in defeat and darkness?
That which is essential to us enjoys emphasis by us. If we do not see the value of the Holy Spirit, we will not emphasize Him or seek His Presence, Person, and Power. Too many Christians know about the Holy Spirit, but too few know Him. It has been said that a man can die of starvation knowing all about bread, and a person can stay spiritually dead while knowing all the historical facts about Christianity. Knowledge and experience are not the same. Knowledge should lead us to the experience of God’s Person.
It is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit that we truly become one with God experientially. He can penetrate our minds and help us bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We must never view Him as anything but God because He is God. Some tend to treat Him like He is God’s messenger but fail to grasp the truth that He is God! The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit never work separately. They are God!
My prayer is, “Lord, fill me to overflowing; saturate Me with the Spirit of God.” I love the chorus or song, “Come Holy Spirit.”
May the Lord God Almighty bring you His complete victory and give you a total transformation and transform you into another man or woman!
Revelation 1:8 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was, and who is to come. The Almighty.”
Man’s finite mind cannot fully comprehend God’s infiniteness! The limitlessness of God is a truth that most people attempt to embrace in theory, but its reality is absent from their manner of life. What I mean by that is that we often declare that we believe God is Infinite, but we live as though He were not. We conduct ourselves belying our declaration that He is everything at once without being diminished in His person or power. Sometimes we live as though God might not see us.
The reality of God seeing everything is both comforting and frightening, so when it comes to the frightening part, the mind of mortal man tends to diminish the infinitude of God. We tend to redefine the word infinite; rather than limitless, we make it mean much or a great deal rather than without bounds.
God is not bound by time or space; there is no time in Him. A.W. Tozer said, “In God, time does not pass. It remains eternally the same.” We find that concept incredibly difficult to grasp because we are time-sensitive creatures.
Our perspective of life is measured in time. We have deadlines and schedules, so we get in a hurry from time to time. Not God! He never hurries, and that is why we sometimes become frustrated with His timing in answering our prayers. I heard years ago, “God is never late, and He is never early.” I have no desire to debate the declaration because sometimes, in our minds, He is late.
In the view of God’s limitlessness, we can approach the reality that everything that flows out from Him is also limitless. His mercy is limitless. His love knows no bounds. His grace is timeless and unending. His power knows no limitations. Let me state several things before someone to adopts a wrong view of God.
God does not have the things we ascribe to Him, such as power. He does not have; He is! He is Love; He is Light, He is Power! He is who and what He is! He is eternally the same. Also, although His grace, love, and mercy are boundless, He is Just, Holy, and Righteous. Therefore, He will and does judge sin.
We can never separate God’s Justice from His Mercy, for He is Holy; therefore, as the Psalmist asked in Psalm 24, “Who can ascend into the hill or the presence of God and stand before Him?” The answer is “the one with clean hands and a pure heart.” God’s Grace enables us to become Holy as He is and dwell in His presence.
Let me also address the Presence of God. Many today are praying for God to send His presence into our world. I, too, want to live in the Presence of the Almighty and destroy the works of the devil. I suggest that you consider the fact of the infiniteness of God and the reality that He is everywhere and that His presence is ALWAYS here. The problem is not that God has not sent His presence to us; we have not entered His presence and realized its personal manifestation in our lives.
I suggest we stop praying for God to turn up or show up as some suggest and realize that He Is Here! We need to enter into Him and His presence. We need not only to pray that His Kingdom comes, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, but to determine that we will reside in no other condition and position than in His realized presence. He wants to be fully expressed and realized in our daily lives. My heart’s cry is more of you, Lord, more of you!
God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!
2 Peter 2:18-22 – “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” NKJV
Peter was addressing false teachers and heresy but made some fascinating analogies in this portion of scripture that I want to look at briefly. We have all known or known of preachers and teachers whose lives do not match their preaching and teaching. Some of them are charlatans who live in the prison of their lust for money, power, position, lasciviousness, and the like. They come promising the hearer liberty but are bound by corruption so that they can offer nothing spiritually that is liberating. They offer empty words because their hearts do not support their words.
He addressed the sad situation where one escapes the world’s pollution through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then becomes entangled in those pollutions again. He powerfully expresses that it would have been better for that person to have Never Known the way of Righteousness than to have experienced it and turned back.
His picture is that of the natural inclination of a sick dog or a cleaned-up pig returning to the mire. I know that some will totally disagree with me doctrinally on this. Still, Peter tells us that we have an individual or individuals who have escaped the world’s pollution through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
They moved out of darkness into light. He then addressed the issue of that individual or individuals turning their backs on what they have received and returning to the way of the world and compares it to a dog’s nature or a pig’s nature. A pig cannot help being a pig but a person who comes to know Jesus has a “new nature” through the Blood of Jesus and does not have to return to the mire.
Just because temptation comes does not mean you are obligated to yield to it. You are no longer a pig, so get it out of your head that you are somehow obligated to wallow in the mire just because you are human. That would diminish the power of the Cross, and that is unacceptable to me. If the Blood of Jesus can wash away my sin, then the Grace of God can keep me walking in the way! Of course, we may all and probably will stumble at times, but that does not mean we return to the mire and allow the “old nature” to gain control. No, we immediately repent and allow the Spirit of God to help us learn from our mistakes and mature.
I have known people who would keep succumbing to the same temptation and come to me in tears. I had one person tell me once, “I can’t help it. It’s the way God made me.” That did not sit well with me, and I am sure it did not work with God because once we receive the knowledge of the Lord and are born into the family of God, we are New Creations, so that is not how God made us.
It is our responsibility to resist, and in resisting, the Bible tells us that the devil will flee! Bullies only bully people who offer no resistance. So, a pig is a pig, but you are not a pig. You are a child of the King and have been washed clean. If you stumble, you have an advocate with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ! You may experience that failure but do not have to take up permanent residence there. God’s Grace is Greater than all our Sin!
May the Lord be with you as you go through your day!
Psalm 1:1-6 –“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” NKJV
I love the Psalms and especially this first one. It applies in all seasons and situations and expresses the heart of our Heavenly Father in such a powerful way. There is a contrast between the Blessed person and the Cursed person or Unblessed. There is the identification that we can follow two paths in life and the benefits or pitfalls of those choices.
THE BLESSED MAN:
He chooses the Lord and His Way over the wisdom of the world or the morals of an unregenerate society. This person is not scornful but takes delight in the law of the Lord; in God’s Word, he invests himself as much as humanly possible. In so doing, he finds that his life becomes like a tree planted by the refreshing streams that provide the nurture and nourishment needed to grow, thrive, and produce fruit. The drought does not affect it because it receives the life-giving flow of water from the river. This person is prosperous in ALL that they do.That is a position and condition that each of us should ardently desire.
THE UNGODLY:
Then we see the contrast in the state of the ungodly. They are unstable like the chaff of the wheat that the wind blows wherever it may. The ungodly are unable to withstand the judgment or ability to stand in their own defense in a trial because they are guilty, unrepentant, and Unforgiven. They have no place or position in the congregation of the righteous or in the blessings that flow to the one who follows the Lord with a whole heart.
We are reminded that God is fully aware of our state and condition. The righteous will walk in victory, grace, peace, power, and success, but the wicked or the ungodly will perish. Oh, I readily acknowledge that God sends the rain on the just and unjust alike and that many go through life with seemingly little negative as a result of their chosen lifestyles, but I know that One Day we will give account, and on that day, my heart cries to hear – “Well done! Come on in!” The ungodly will hear, “Depart from Me, for I never knew you.”
We all have choices in life, and when we set our hearts to follow God, the Holy Spirit will come to our side and walk with us through life’s pathways. It may not be easy, but it will lead to Eternal Life! So which road is yours?
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 – “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, 9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” NKJV
Let me say at the outset – that I am in favor of helping the genuinely needy! However, let me continue to say that the “Entitlement Mentality” exhibited by much of the world, particularly America today, runs utterly contrary to the teachings of scripture, as evidenced in this passage.
Church discipline is almost non-existent today because we have little fundamental concept of the Kingdom and the governing ministries and functions that God has established in the Church.
The apostle is emphatic that the church withdraws fellowship from every “brother” – –(a professing believer) who walks disorderly and contrary to how the apostles and Christ had taught them. He stresses that to emphasize the importance of industry rather than idleness and laziness, he and his companions labored rather than depended on the offerings of the Church for their sustenance.
They did so as examples. Would to God that men and women of God in leadership today would take this to heart on a deeper level than is frequently exhibited, for it is a shame for a man or woman of God to become an example of Entitlement rather than Industry.
Paul, speaking to the church where all welfare or Christian charity came from, addressed this issue, and declared what our government and many in the church seem to miss – There is always work that can be done! He was speaking about that issue and said plainly that if anyone would not work, they should not be given food. Busybodies, talebearers, and idleness should not be favored but should experience the sting of being outside the camp to bring them to their senses and even to repentance so that they can be restored.
So that no one would miss his true message, he followed that instruction with a charge in verses 13-15. That passage identifies that the motivation is always to be charitable, willing to help and do good but maintain discipline not for punitive purposes but for restoration purposes.
I am convinced that if the church could somehow come to the place where it accepted the Apostles Doctrine and followed the guidelines of Scripture in this and other areas, we would see the government booted out of the welfare business in a significant measure and more and more people would be following the directive of Scripture and enjoying the fruit of their labors in the Lord.
When we shift our dependence upon man from God, we become subservient to man and thereby shut off many of the blessings of the Lord. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and ALL THESE THINGS shall be added to you” is more than a nice catchy phrase. It is a principle of life.
Churches, pastors, and believers, let us consider getting in order so that we can have the fullness of God’s provision, protection, power, and potential.
May the Lord bless you as you go through your day!
PS – It is my prayer that the Lord would provide me and the local church with sufficiency so that we can help those genuinely in need. I am in no way insensitive to genuine need. The operative words in Paul’s declaration were “would not” not “could not.”
Matthew 20:1-16 –“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 “When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 “And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; 4 and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. 5 “Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. 6 “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ 7 “They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ 9 “When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. 10 “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered and said to one of them, ‘ Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 ‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last.” NASB
I posted something recently about fairness, which seems to be a buzzword in political circles these days. Also, there is the idea of redistributing wealth, making the playing field level, and everyone equal. This whole postulation misses something important from a biblical perspective that touches every aspect of life. I want to address that here briefly.
This is an illustration by the Lord regarding the first being last and the last being first and its connection to a powerful truth. The truth is that Salvation is never earned based on performance, work, actions, deeds, etc. We have seen the flames of class warfare being fanned to inferno heights over the past few years, and it is growing dangerous. We have seen an entitlement mentality develop and grow, depriving society of the drive and desire to achieve and excel. It is a prescription for mediocrity in every area of life and foreign to the Bible and its teachings.
Consider this biblical account in a nutshell.
Some were hired for an agreed wage in the early morning hours. At different times during the day, others were hired. The only commitment was that the employer would do what was right for them. Some were hired at the last hour with no specific amount of money designated.
The money belonged to the owner of the vineyard. It was his option to hire the workers and his privilege to pay them whatever he deemed right and equitable. Everyone had agreed to the conditions and the pay at each stage of the process, so nobody had a complaint to lodge, although we see that they did.
Those who worked all day were paid the same as those who worked only one hour. It exposed envy, jealousy, and a focus on my rights. It is a visualization of how people fail to understand the value of making a commitment and that a business owner has the right to determine the pay rate.
Jesus’ larger message was that although someone might come to Him for salvation at the last stages of their life, they would receive Eternal Life the same as someone who had come to him in their youth. Did that make Him unjust and unfair? NO!
If I know the conditions, the pay agreement, the working conditions, and I contract to do the job, what I am paid is what I should expect. If the owner does something different for others, that is not my concern. If I focus on that, it will cause – envy, jealousy, greed, bitterness, and division between me and those I believe were treated better than I and toward the owner of the enterprise.
If I translate that to Salvation, then I would adopt the idea that because I came to Christ early in my life, I should somehow receive more Eternal Life and more Grace than someone who came to Him in the late stages of their life rather than rejoicing that they also came to Him. If my boss is generous, who is to say he will not, in time, be generous toward me for my faithfulness and loyalty? But, even if he is not, I agreed to do a job for a wage and a time frame. I have no complaints. He could give away every penny he has; it is not my right to complain. That is totally between God and the owner.
If you believe you deserve something that someone else has, for which you have not labored, you have crossed into jealousy and envy, which is a sin. It is covetousness, envy, and jealousy! If you believe that someone who has had success through their efforts or the family into which they were born should be punished and they should be forced to share that with you, you have crossed into envy and jealousy, and that is sin.
Truthfully, your anger is not so much at them as it is at God because you are expressing that you believe He has not treated you fairly, which is a dangerous place to live. No wonder Paul said, “I know how to abound and how to be abased and have learned to be content in whatever state I find myself.” He knew that God was not only His Source but would Never forsake Him!
Life is not measured by what I possess, how much money I have in the bank, or the recognition I receive publicly. It is in my relationship with Him. I desire to learn to live free of all envy and in complete contentment with His provision at the time of His provision Knowing that He is my Source and Will Never forsake me or fail me.
I rejoice in what I have in Him and in every opportunity, He brings before me. If your opportunity is seemingly more lucrative, I rejoice with you. If it is less, I weep with you, but I trust God to guide my footsteps into the pathway that I should travel and know that at the end of the day, I can Rejoice in His Goodness and Provision.
Roy's Covenant Corner 