God is pretty good about sending us messages. We just have to listen.
Case in point--the devotion I journalled about today was concerning Matthew 20:1-16. It's often found with the heading 'The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard'. The story Jesus tells is about a vineyard owner who goes out and hires workers early in the morning to work in his fields that day for a denarius.
As the day passes, the owner goes out again at the third, sixth and ninth hours of they day, offering work and telling the other workers he would pay them whatever was right. The owner even goes out at the eleventh hour and finds still some workers left to hire.
The end of the workday comes and the owner tells his foreman to call the workers so they can be paid their wages. He starts with those hired last and pays them a denarius for their labor. Those who were hired at the first of the day saw this and assumed they would be getting more. When they get a denarius, they grumble about the unfairness of the pay.
The owner's response is what struck me today. He points out that the workers agreed to a day's work for a denarius at the beginning of the day. They should be content and go. BUT more than that, the owner wants to be generous. He wants those hired last to receive the same pay. The owner asks doesn't he have the right to be generous with his money?
Fast forward to tonight...I'm visiting Mount Pleasant Christian Church on the weekends I work because they have a Saturday evening service. (Since I work the day shift that kind of excludes a Sunday morning service and I'm relearning I need to be in a corporate prayer/worship/teaching atmosphere weekly to be refreshed and energized to follow Jesus.)
MPCC's January series has been titled, wait for it....Contagious Generosity!
Seriously, God can speak volumes if we just pay attention. So what will I be doing to be more generous? I'm going to increase my regular offering first. Then I'm going to fulfill my faith promise to CCG as the year passes. And as soon as I sit down this weekend and finish my budget I'm going to find some extra money to donate to a couple organizations I partner with that are in Haiti continuing to help the relief effort.
I'm so psyched.
Case in point--the devotion I journalled about today was concerning Matthew 20:1-16. It's often found with the heading 'The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard'. The story Jesus tells is about a vineyard owner who goes out and hires workers early in the morning to work in his fields that day for a denarius.
As the day passes, the owner goes out again at the third, sixth and ninth hours of they day, offering work and telling the other workers he would pay them whatever was right. The owner even goes out at the eleventh hour and finds still some workers left to hire.
The end of the workday comes and the owner tells his foreman to call the workers so they can be paid their wages. He starts with those hired last and pays them a denarius for their labor. Those who were hired at the first of the day saw this and assumed they would be getting more. When they get a denarius, they grumble about the unfairness of the pay.
The owner's response is what struck me today. He points out that the workers agreed to a day's work for a denarius at the beginning of the day. They should be content and go. BUT more than that, the owner wants to be generous. He wants those hired last to receive the same pay. The owner asks doesn't he have the right to be generous with his money?
Fast forward to tonight...I'm visiting Mount Pleasant Christian Church on the weekends I work because they have a Saturday evening service. (Since I work the day shift that kind of excludes a Sunday morning service and I'm relearning I need to be in a corporate prayer/worship/teaching atmosphere weekly to be refreshed and energized to follow Jesus.)
MPCC's January series has been titled, wait for it....Contagious Generosity!
Seriously, God can speak volumes if we just pay attention. So what will I be doing to be more generous? I'm going to increase my regular offering first. Then I'm going to fulfill my faith promise to CCG as the year passes. And as soon as I sit down this weekend and finish my budget I'm going to find some extra money to donate to a couple organizations I partner with that are in Haiti continuing to help the relief effort.
I'm so psyched.
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