June 14 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

You would get into a lot of trouble if you treated your employees the way this farmer did. He paid the people who worked for one hour just as much as those who had labored a full day—and a full day used to be more than eight hours.

Here Jesus was teaching us something about the kingdom of heaven (v. 1). He was not proposing a fair labor contract.

Christ was telling us that the latecomers ("the last") shall be frontrunners ("the first") in the kingdom. Indeed, the Gentile latecomers have replaced the Jewish frontrunners.

Jesus' story speaks especially to those of us who have been at work in the vineyard for some time. Some of us have "borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day." We worked hard. Of course we know that we were received into the kingdom by grace, but we are also aware that grace must produce fruits of obedience. We showed obedience. By now we have quite a record. Some fellow Christians regard us highly. We've acquired jobs as managers and supervisors. In fact, sometimes we wonder what the vineyard would look like if we had not been working in it from sunup to sundown.

Along comes someone new to the kingdom who isn't even dry behind the ears. This newcomer makes all the baby sounds of one who has just been born again. Do you know what the Master pays him? A denarius. And do you know what we old-timers get? A denarius.

Yes, grace produces obedience, and this obedience is also rewarded. But the Lord is now giving us a public relations lesson for kingdom workers. There is to be no envy and no pride of seniority. All of us must be deeply convinced that we are in this kingdom by grace. Without this conviction, we do not belong here at all.

And grace is still the opposite of merit.

REFLECTIONS

"The older I get, the more I realize it's all by God's grace." Are you finding this to be true? How do you keep the focus on God's grace and off your own merits?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.