Life is not fair. First of all, get over that. Kids on the playground yell out “that’s not fair”…when they are losing the game. What game are we playing?

Matthew 20, Msg

A Story About Workers

20 1-2 “God’s kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.

3-5 “Later, about nine o’clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.

5-6 “He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o’clock. At five o’clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’

7 “They said, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“He told them to go to work in his vineyard.

8 “When the day’s work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, ‘Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.’

9-12 “Those hired at five o’clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, ‘These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.’

13-15 “He replied to the one speaking for the rest, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?’

16 “Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”

When we think as the world thinks we are jealous of even our Christian brothers and sisters who seem to have more than we have. Our “that’s not fair, we worked hard all these years” thinking has wrong motives. The why of our work got lost somewhere in busyness of doing the work. We wonder what it takes to be that “blessed”?

What can we do more of to be that blessed? Wrong thinking. Maybe we just need to be. Be grateful for what God is doing and will do in your life because of who you are to Him and where He has placed you for this poignant time on your journey. Look for what He is teaching you in the process of maturing you to be all that He knew from the beginning of time that you would be. To God be the glory! He does know what is best for us!

Can I be so bold to say that God doesn’t call us to produce the biggest church ever but he REQUIRES us to live as Micah 6:8 (Msg) states:

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.

Dear Heavenly Father, Sometimes we claim we don’t understand your word to us because we don’t want to go deeper and live out what your teaching us to live. We repent of whining about how unfair life is. We are grateful for what You are doing in and through us. To You be all glory, honor and praise! Thank you for being with us…Emmanuel. Thank you for giving us more than we deserve. Help us to give more like you give. May we live gracious, humble lives with love for You and others. In Jesus Name, Amen