Day 84: Works or Grace?
Please read the Bible verses for today:
Matthew 20:1-16
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:1-16)
This story is perfect, (of course), in showing us the Father's heart in wanting all to come to salvation. I personally asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior thirty years ago this coming October. My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life and I will go to heaven when I die. Now if someone asks Jesus in their heart today, their name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life and will go to heaven too. If we both die tomorrow we enter together. Me with my thirty years, the other person with their one day. I rejoice in it! I love the Father's generous and loving heart, but there are those who do not like this idea. There are people who do not think it fair to have someone who lived their whole life hating Jesus, living against His will enter heaven just because he prayed the prayer of salvation in his final hours on earth. They think if unfair. Well, what that only shows me is that those who think that unfair, have religion and not a relationship with Jesus. These people think in terms of works and earning their salvation. They think that being good and following the Ten Commandments will secure their heavenly position, but they are wrong. They do not understand the power of Grace. There is this quote I heard a long time ago, I believe it was Thomas Aquinas who said it, "Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and then do whatever you want." You see, if we are loving Jesus with all that we are, the 'do whatever you want' part will be everything that Jesus wants us to do. We will be close to the heart of God and desire the things of God and we will certainly rejoice in someone giving their heart to Jesus at any hour.
Pray with me:
Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your generous love. Thank you for calling me into a relationship with you when I was only seventeen-years-old. Thank you for turning my life around and bringing healing to such a broken heart. Father, I pray for those who do not know you. I pray that you would appear to them in a vision, in a healing, in a miracle in their life so that they too may know you today. I thank you that you desire all to come to salvation! Thank you for your generous, loving heart that is filled with grace. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
This story is perfect, (of course), in showing us the Father's heart in wanting all to come to salvation. I personally asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior thirty years ago this coming October. My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life and I will go to heaven when I die. Now if someone asks Jesus in their heart today, their name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life and will go to heaven too. If we both die tomorrow we enter together. Me with my thirty years, the other person with their one day. I rejoice in it! I love the Father's generous and loving heart, but there are those who do not like this idea. There are people who do not think it fair to have someone who lived their whole life hating Jesus, living against His will enter heaven just because he prayed the prayer of salvation in his final hours on earth. They think if unfair. Well, what that only shows me is that those who think that unfair, have religion and not a relationship with Jesus. These people think in terms of works and earning their salvation. They think that being good and following the Ten Commandments will secure their heavenly position, but they are wrong. They do not understand the power of Grace. There is this quote I heard a long time ago, I believe it was Thomas Aquinas who said it, "Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and then do whatever you want." You see, if we are loving Jesus with all that we are, the 'do whatever you want' part will be everything that Jesus wants us to do. We will be close to the heart of God and desire the things of God and we will certainly rejoice in someone giving their heart to Jesus at any hour.
Pray with me:
Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your generous love. Thank you for calling me into a relationship with you when I was only seventeen-years-old. Thank you for turning my life around and bringing healing to such a broken heart. Father, I pray for those who do not know you. I pray that you would appear to them in a vision, in a healing, in a miracle in their life so that they too may know you today. I thank you that you desire all to come to salvation! Thank you for your generous, loving heart that is filled with grace. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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