St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 26b; Clean first the inside!

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their hypocritical purity) Part 4.

 He had to teach them.  He had to help them to understand where they were.  He had to break through the darkness inside, to open a door so that they might have light to see what was inside.  They only cleansed the outside and thought they were pure.  But on the inside they were full of dirt and uncleanness.  All kinds of iniquities had taken over on the inside and they believed that it was okay to appear this way.  This was their purity on the inside and Christ had to teach them to see the truth of what was really inside.

So he called them out.  He told them they were impure.  He told the Pharisees they were like whited graves full of rotted bones on the inside, painted white on the outside to look clean.  This was the religion they practiced.  He told them:  "Clean first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside too may be clean."

 Clean the inside first.  Get all the garbage out of the inside.  Clean the mind, clean the thoughts, clean the actions, do right, do no wrong, speak good of your neighbors, be at peace with yourself and others, love your neighbor as yourself, hold fast to the beliefs given us by Christ as handed down through his teachings.  

There is so much that we must live with in this world in accordance with Christian beliefs.  Life does not offer opportunity to live according to the teachings of Christ.  There are times when we will be tempted.  Times when we will be put to the test to do otherwise.  There will be times when we must ask for forgiveness for not having the strength to follow our beliefs.  Yet if we can remember our teachings we can come back to the path we are given and seek his mercy to return to his wisdom of life for us.  

Surrender to his will and peace will be yours.  Seek to know his purpose for your life and you will find your way.  He came to unlock the chains of bondage to free us from slavery to sin.  He came to teach us how to live a life of peace and love, a life of knowledge and understanding.  He came to light the path that we may know the way to his kingdom, the path to the Father.  

Seek the knowledge that he has left for us to know.  Understand the wisdom that is within you to see.  Trust in the spirit that connects you to his love and to the Father, the creator of all things.  For he is the fulfillment of all desire and all joy and all happiness and desires of the soul.

 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 nd 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.

St Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 2, The Laborer's agreement.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 2. 

Christ continues to educate his disciples on the kingdom of heaven by using a parable.  He tells them that the kingdom of heaven is like a house-holder who needs laborers to work in his vineyard.  The owner goes out to the market place and hires laborers to do the work.  He makes an agreement with them to do the work and he agrees to pay them for the work that they will do.  The agreement is for one denarius to work in the vineyard all day.  The laborers agree and go to work in the vineyard.

The disciples understand this concept because they themselves have hired laborers to work with them and have made agreements before the work has begun.  The process is simple.  The procedure is standard and used by most laborers and those seeking to hire laborers.  So Christ told his disciples:  "And having agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard."

We are given this example because most can relate to being hired for work.  In today's world we make application and have an interview and the personnel representative makes the decision to hire based on the needs of the position and the company.  We seek to work and they seek to hire.  We agree to work for a price and they agree to pay the price that we agree.  In most cases the pay is already set in writing.  So Christ is giving his disciples and us, today, a living example that we can use to compare to the kingdom of heaven. 

Why does he want us to think of the kingdom of heaven as a work-laborer relationship?  Why does he want us to understand the parallel between the two?  What are the similarities?  What are the differences?  Are we being called to work in the kingdom?  Are we being offered a work-laborer relationship?  What is our pay?  What is our compensation?  What work are we required to do?

Christ came that we would have life and have it more abundantly.  He came that we would know the truth of who we are in him.  He came to pay the price for our transgressions.  And having paid that price, he came that we would be released from the bondage of our past sins and given a new opportunity to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  We are cleansed.  We are justified.  And we are newly born again.  He has offered the invitation to work in his vineyard.  He has agreed to pay the wages for the work.  The decision is ours to make if we want to work in his vineyard.  Or the decision is ours if we want to work in the vineyard of death. 

Christ calls us.  Christ wants us.  Christ has given us the opportunity.  But it is ours to accept or to reject.  Each one and everyone has the decision to make.  What will yours be?  Who will you work for?  What will be your reward?  Come!  Let us go and work for the Lord that he may provide for us.  The harvest is great but the laborers are few.  Are you one?

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.