Matthew 20:1-16

Man, have you read this lately...? It's nuts. This landowner (of a vineyard) goes out to hire some day labor at 6AM and offers to pay them a full days wage. The fellas jump all over it and set to work. Well when then landowner goes out again, this time at 9AM he offers them the same pay...not too big of a deal, but a mild injustice to the first crew. Well then the landowner goes out again at noon, when half the day is done - and again at 3PM, again, offering them a full days wage. THEN, and this is crazy, dude goes out one last time at 5PM - one hour LEFT in the day! - and hires another group of guys to work AT A FULL DAYS WAGE! Now, these last guys have gotta be thinking "what luck!" while the guys who have been bustin' tail since 6AM have gotta be thinking "we're going to make SO much more than that last crew!"...nope. The landlord pays them all the exact same wage...can you image how ticked the 6AM crew must've been? I know I would have been fuming...but why?

Here's the crazy thing about Grace - I don't deserve it anymore than that thief on the cross next to Jesus, who in his final minutes gave his life to the Man dieing next to him...but I sure do think that way far too often. My Grandpa gave his life to Jesus 40ish hours before he died. That's what I think of when I read this story. My Grandpa was 84 years old and up until that time before he passed he openly mocked my family for following Jesus. Thought it was silly and that "no intelligent person would believe that"...and yet there Jesus was, extending His Grace to my Grandpa...pursuing him all those years...I am the most selfish person I know, that's for sure. Please don't post telling me that I'm not that, I just need to confess it, repent of it, and move on.

Dear God, thanks for your Grace. Love, Wayne, the one who needs it more than anyone.