GOD'S EVEN-HANDED GOODNESS

He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive……Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’  (Matthew 20:7-15 NKJV)

Yes, God is good! Our eye may be evil; the thick atmosphere of this earth-sphere makes our vision oblique, but our warped judgment avails nothing against the verdict of the universe. So good is God that He will give full wages to those who would have been glad to fill their lives with helpful service, if only they had had the opportunity. All day long they may have waited for their chance, but the sun slowly crept from horizon to horizon, and no opportunity was offered to them. Or, if finally their chance came, it lasted but for one brief hour! Nevertheless, their reward will be counted not only for the service of the hour, but for what they would have done if they had been called in the early dawn.

This is not after the manner of men, but it is God's way of dealing with men. He gives of "His own" to those laborers who have been faithful to their opportunity, whether the hours were longer or shorter. "His own!" His own love! His own joy! His completed satisfaction!

But all who are admitted to that inner circle must be prepared to drink of His cup, and to be baptized with His baptism (Matthew 20:23). Those who shall sit on the right and left of His throne in glory are the ones who have stooped lowest in bond slave service. In one sense, the followers of Jesus are not to be ministered to, but must be willing to follow their Lord in service to others even to the giving up of their lives. They must resemble their Master who, when He was on His way to redeem mankind, was willing to stand still and relieve the misery of two blind beggars (Matthew 20:34).

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, pour Your gentleness into my heart, Your compassionate touch into my fingers, Your tender sensitiveness to human need and sorrow into my cold and callous human senses. It is in Your name I pray these things, AMEN.

God's Daily Promise

Promise #224:
I will gladly give the Holy Spirit to those who will ask.

Luke 11:13 (WEB)
If you then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, 
how much more will your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”