Our paragraph topic is: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 12.
The time has now come for reward. All the laborers are called to receive their payment for their labors. Some have worked from the beginning of the day through the heat and blaring sun. Some have only worked an hour. And the last that were called have hardly worked at all. And now comes the time for reward, the time for payment, the time for the end of the contract.
Christ is telling this parable to his disciples and to those today who are reading his words. There is a message. There is a lesson. There is enlightenment that comes with an inner understanding of the living word. Who will understand? Who will receive the message? Who will be enlightened by the words that are given to us today, passed down through the centuries of written text. The spirit will open the hearts of the chosen that they may see and understand. "Now when they of the eleventh hour came,
they received each a denarius."
The eleventh hour has come. The time for reckoning has come. The time when all work ends. The time for judgment comes. What will you receive? What will I receive? Only the judge knows. Only the house-holder knows. We can imagine that we have done good deeds in our lives. We have tried to follow the commandments. We have done all that was given of us to do. What will we receive?
We do not know of that which has not been given us. We only know that which has been promised to us by Christ's words. He has promised that he will be with us even to the ends of the world. He has promised that he has gone to make a place for us in his father's house that has many mansions. He has promised that he will not leave us orphaned that we will have the advocate that will come to us, to help us, to guide us, to protect us along the way. He has told us not to be anxious, for the Father know of our needs. And he has told us that if we love him and keep his commandments that we will be in him just as he is in the Father.
A denarius is what they received, those who were last. A denarius is what they received, those who started to work at the eleventh hour. A denarius is what they received, those who found work after waiting so long in the market place without giving up hope that they would find work. Are we still hopeful? Are we still faithful that we too will be found? Do we still desire to find our work at the eleventh hour or have we given up in our search?
The eleventh hour comes soon for some. The eleventh hour comes without warning for others. The eleventh hour seems like it will never come and some would take time into their own hands and make the eleventh hour appear for their own purposes. What will you do when the eleventh hour comes? Will you be prepared? Will you be ready?
Remain hopeful and you will find your way. Continue searching and you will find that which is yours. Seek that which is real and meaningful and not that which is temporary, meaningless, and unfulfilling. If your search is real and genuine, you will discover the truth that is waiting for you. It knocks waiting for you to answer. The voice from within calls you to know him. Your heart knows the truth. Open the door and receive your reward.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
Our paragraph topic is:(Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 11.
We all can relate to this parable because it speaks of working and labor. We live in a society where we work to provide for ourselves. Long past has the time gone where we were farmers. Long past has the time gone where we lived on the land and grew our own food. We were simple people then. We are complex people now. We have choices. We have chances. We can be who we want to be.
This was the same opportunity that the parable speaks of in ancient times. They came to the market place to work. They came to the market place to find work. They came to the market place to earn wages so that they could provide for themselves. They came to the market place because the market place provided a better opportunity than work on the farm. They came to the market place because they wanted to get paid. And as Christ spoke of the owner who told his steward to pay them all: "Beginning
from the last even to the first."
So we can conclude that all were paid. The agreement was to work for a denarius and the payment is for a denarius. All will receive their payment, from the very first who agreed to work to the very last who agreed to work in the vineyard. And this is the results that Christ wants his disciples to understand about the parable, you work for the kingdom and you will be compensated by the owner of the kingdom. He will pay. He will abide by his agreement. He is reliable, honest, trustworthy, and true to his promise. He is unlike others who may cheat you. He is unlike others who may not be reliable. He is unlike others who may steal from you or run out on you and not pay. The owner of the vineyard is true to his agreement.
For the agreement is the contract. The agreement is the bond. The agreement is the glue that makes it all work. If there was no agreement then it would all not work. But it is that agreement that brings the two parties together and provides some form of exchange that satisfies both. The question is are we satisfied? Are we in harmony with what we want from the agreement? Are we certain that the other party in the agreement is trustworthy? Will the other party provide all that is agreed to? Will the other party truthfully complete the agreement? Will the other party lie to complete the agreement?
We live in a world of untruths. We live in a world that is filled with many shades of grey. We live in a world where it is acceptable to change the agreement after it has been made or to offer an agreement that is untrue. We are children. We are sheep. We are innocent people seeking to know the truth of who we are. We seek to be all that we are, to see all that we can see, to know all that there is to know, to experience all that is given us to perceive. And we do and accept all that is given us that we may reach those goals. The world is untrue. The world is a lie. The world is a deceit. How can we see through the tainted lenses?
Christ, our lord and savior, came that we would know the truth. He came that we would have an example. He came that we would have an open door to see through. Yet many would only believe that there is no door, that there is no savior, that there is only what we can see, feel, taste, touch and know through our physical senses. And that puts us at the crossroads of life. Which direction do we take? Do we seek the physical or do we believe in the spiritual? Some would say that there is no evidence to demonstrate the spiritual. And yet here we are in the flesh, spiritual beings in a physical body.
Flesh cannot perceive what is meant to be believed. Flesh cannot see what is meant to be known from within. Flesh cannot know what is only open to those who will open the door to their heart and receive the gift of life given us by Christ. Knowledge will not bring it. Works will not pay for it. Gifts cannot buy it. Only desire to open the door to the heart will bring forth the love that Christ has for those who seek to know him. Come! Receive your pay, even from the last to the first. Christ will rejoice in you and you will have peace in him.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
Our paragraph topic is:(Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 10.
Evening approaches and it's time for the labor to end. Christ continues to tell this parable of the laborers. He wants his disciples to understand the parallel to real life that this story follows. There are laborers. There was work. There is time to work and time to stop working. And then there is pay for the labor that is expended. This is the parallel that this story follows so far. We have been talking about work and pay, entering into the kingdom and what needs to be done to enter in.
The message of the kingdom is the work. The labor is getting the message out to the people. How should that be accomplished? There are many who need to hear the message. There are many who are in want of the message. There are many who can use the message to help them enter into the kingdom. Who will carry it? Who will be the messenger? Who will show how to use the message and lead the way? The work is waiting and the time for payment is near. "But when evening had come , the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers, and pay them their wages.' "
The time for payment is near. The laborers have worked all day. Some from the beginning, some from the middle of the day, some from the last quarter of the day, and some from the last hour of the day. They all worked. Some worked more, some worked less but they all worked. Are we working? Are we carrying the message? Are we playing the part of the messenger assuring that the word gets out to those in need? Are we lending a hand? Are we feeding the poor when we see them? Are we clothing the naked, helping the sick and dying? Are we the vessel through which our Father is able to reach his children?
We were all created in his image and likeness. We are all his children. We are all spiritual beings not physical. Can you see your brother/sister in a different way? Can you accept them as you accept yourself even though they may not look like you on the outside, or smell like you? Can you transform your vision to see the physical? Can you transform your feelings to feel the presence of your spiritual brother or sister in another person? Can you look deeper into the soul to see the light of life given you through the sacrifice of Christ?
Our vision is tainted through the glasses of the world. We see what the world wants us to see. We see what we have been programed to see. And yet it takes an inner knowledge of oneself to see beyond the physical. It takes an inner acceptance and peace to know what is within ourselves and everyone else. It takes an inner spark to be what Christ came to give us. See the light of life that is within you and you will be able to see in others what is within you.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
Our paragraph topic is: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 9.
Our story continues. Christ is telling his disciples about the house-holder who has property and needs help to harvest the crop. He has gone to the market several times during the day and found workers standing around with no work. Even at the last hour of the day he has gone and found workers without work. He is puzzled as to why they are still standing around without work and he asks them why. They tell him that they are still waiting because no man has come to hire them. They are still waiting at the last hour hoping that someone will come to hire them that they may work.
Our story is one of simple theme. It is meant to bring home principles that even the simple man can understand. Every man wants to work to earn wages that he may provide for himself and family. It is the nature of man. Idleness is not in man's nature. He needs something to do to occupy his time. In past times man worked on the land, planting, growing, and harvesting his food. He built his home, cared for his livestock, and provided warmth to his home. He hunted for his food in the forest and sought companionship for himself with a mate. This is the nature of man, the nature of his need to be productive. So when they hoped for work in the market place, the house-holder, "He said to them, 'Go you also into the vineyard.' "
So the house-holder wants all that seek work to find work. He wants all who hope to not be idle to have work. The house-holder has need of harvesters and seeks to hire all who want to work. This is what we can draw from this parable so far. For we have only talked about working and finding workers who hope to work. There are those who seek to work and there are those who seek to be idle. There are those who hope for employment and those who do not. And then there are those who are work motivated and need no man to hire them but are themselves self hired. They are the ones who know that there is a harvest and that there is need for workers.
Do you know about the harvest? Are you one of the harvesters or just an idler? There is work to be done. There is need for workers. The rewards are great. The benefits are plentiful. Do you have the skills? Are you willing to work? There are many positions that are in need of filling. All you need is an open heart and a desire to be counseled. It does not matter the day or the time, the need is ever present. It does not matter if you are young or old, rich or poor, black or white, Asian or Latino. All are called to be witnesses to the harvest that is in need of workers.
What does it take? It only takes your willingness to follow Christ and your willingness to be a witness to his love. Everyday you may be called upon to let him in. Everyday you may be called upon to show his love. Everyday you may be called upon to lend a hand, to give a word, to spare a dime, to give some food, to see beyond what may be apparent externally but to see what is internal that belongs to him. For we are all created in his image. We are all spiritual beings and not physical. And within the external body is the spirit and life of God our Father. And that is what we are called to love, to see, to believe, to know that we are all alike.
We are not Black, or White, or Jew, or Gentile, or Asian, or Latino or any race, or color or religion. We are all spiritual beings created in his image and given life, a second chance, through the love and sacrifice of Christ Jesus our Savior. So if we can reflect what is within us outward, others can see and experience that which is within us. Then we become workers for the vineyard, attracting others and showing them the way to eternal life given us by Christ our savior through God our Father. For he is the one true ever living God. And he is our creator and our Father, and our provider, and our protector. Open the door to your heart and let him in. Seek that which is within you and know the truth of who you are in him. The light of life will shine forth and others will see that which is within you. Be the worker!
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
