St. Matthew, Chapter 20, verse:23a, The Drink.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The mother of James and John) Part 8. 

They wanted fame and fortune.  They wanted to sit at his side.  They wanted to have power and prestige.  They wanted to be at the head of the table and not at the end.  But, they did not know the price they would have to pay for their wants.  These were they wishes of James and John as expressed by their mother.  She spoke what they would not speak.  She came forth and worshipped even as they could not worship.  She brought forth what others only thought about, what would be their rewards for following in the footsteps of the Lord.

They loved him surely.  They walked with him for years.  They watched him work unbelievable miracles.  They listened to his words with care.  They, like no other living today, had the opportunity to see with their own eyes and experience with their own beings the living Christ. 

He came down from heaven.  He walked the earth.  He lived amongst the people.  He taught them of the Father and gave them his principles and practices.  And then he died.  He suffered, he was punished as no man has ever been punished.  And he was hung on a cross for sins that he did not commit.  They did not know the whole picture at the time they asked to sit at his side.  But they would follow in his sacrifice.  And:  He said to them, "Of my cup you shall indeed drink." 

Here is something that we can ask ourselves today, "Can we drink of his cup?"  Can we take even a sip, a whiff or even a smell of the cup that he drank from?  It was a tall cup, a cup filled with issues, a cup filled with pain, suffering, unselfish love, grace, tenderness, patience, knowledge, faith, trust, and a deep seated passion in the redemption of mankind, a passion that required his life.  Are we worthy of the love that he has for us?  Do we know the value of the sacrifice that was made for us?  Can we not see, can we not understand, can we not know the beauty of who we are in his eyes? 

We live in a world, a realm, where we are provided with all that our hearts desire.  In order to have all, we must strive.  We must work, we must achieve, we must educate ourselves, overcome obstacles, revise who we are in order to conform to the common mole.  We must give up who we are, sacrifice that which is natural to us, change how we think and feel, how we know, and how we believe, in order to achieve all.  And in the process of all this, we become something else, somethin other than who we are.  We become something that the world has created.  We do all this that we might succeed, that we might be on top.

Will we drink of his cup or shall we drink of the cup the world has given us.  Both will change us.  Both require a decision.  We live in the world but we are spiritual.  The world gives us food, gives us protection, allows us to grow, it gives us love, educates us, gives us the opportunity to provide for ourselves, and demands us to conform to its norms.  But when we come of age and decide which road we want to take, we make a choice.  Sometimes the choice is easy, natural, given to us from birth.  At other times we come to re-evaluate the choice in order to continue. 

Our Father walks with us at each choice we make.  We can let go of the world and turn back to him.  We can change the decision that we make.  We can understand that there is something more, something greater, something that gives us peace and joy and love in our lives.  There is something that is within us that is not of this world but of the spirit and life given us by our Father.  It is that spirit that will guide us along right path that leads to him.  The choice is ours to make.  Do we drink of his cup? 

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.

St Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 8b, The Call of the Laborers: payment from first to last.

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.