Journey to the Cross 2017, Day 20

Thursday, Day 20                                         

Reading for today:
Matthew 20:1-16

Today marks the official halfway point in our Lent journey to the cross. 

I discovered that my original reading list has some flaws. I thought it had used all of Matthew in the process – which is important to me   – but find it skipped this story. So I will insert it for today, and do some readjusting....

Life is so like that. Plan. Adapt. Readjust. But no matter what it brings, we live with HOPE! Yesterday our church had a Day of Prayer from 6 a m to 9 p m.  So many heartrending issues to pray for written on prayer request cards and placed around the sanctuary, with tables with various prayer focuses throughout our city, country and world.  Monumental concerns – but every one of them is tinged with the hope of what God will do in meeting the various specific needs.  Hope springs eternal when God is part of the equation. 

My redirected reading for today brings me to Jesus’ story of the workers in the vineyard. It is simple and straightforward, and needs no explanation, but its message is one we should not miss, and it has implications for far more than is stated.

Bottom line: some accept Jesus very young. Their gift: eternal life. Some come to Him as adults. Their gift: eternal life. Some will squeak into eternity accepting Jesus with their last breath. Their gift: eternal life.

The application filters down even to the tangible blessings during our life on earth: God blesses some people with a lot; some with a little; some to be blessed by others through whom His blessings are to flow. (And some people ‘bless’ themselves, end up in terrible debt and then wonder why God let it happen.)

In another way of stating it: He gives 10 talents to some, 5 talents to another, 3 talents to yet another, and only 1 to some. The foundational message is that He is God and we are not. We are not to compare, but to thank Him for His provision, and His faithfulness to keep His Word to us.

It is also imperative that we recognize God’s greatest blessings cannot be measured in monetary equivalents.  Ministry giftings, medical expertise, artistic and musical talents, ad infinitum, are far greater ‘blessings’ than the financial wealth we associate as being ‘blessing’; and, in fact, for some financial security is a curse and the greatest detriment to spiritual well-being. Ultimately, the greatest gift is what we celebrate at Easter – forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus....  I know – I keep jumping ahead!    

I once knew a man who had a reputation for being unfaithful to his wife – and not long before he died, he accepted Jesus as his Savior and started attending church. I was thrilled for God’s merciful forgiveness! My husband – who does not share my faith – didn’t think it was fair. He didn’t think the man should be forgiven. My husband has been ‘good’ and has ‘done the right thing’ his whole life. It is hard to be practically perfect and see your need for a Savior. He doesn’t believe it is fair for murderers or rapists or anyone else who has done awful things to have a chance for forgiveness. The truth is: forgiveness isn’t fair. That’s why it is so amazing.

Looking back on my childhood, I suspect I think of myself as being more perfect than I probably actually was – but then I messed up – and for all of the sins I committed during that 2 years of time away from God, He forgave. He paid the price. And – He took away the guilt of my sin. God has granted me opportunities to share my story so others could know they too could receive forgiveness, and that redeems the bad and changes it to being used for good.

An additional aspect of His redeeming the past is that I am far more understanding and compassionate that I would have been had I done everything ‘right’....  I can proclaim His forgiveness while still being called to speak the truth in love. 

Humor for today:
A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to touch –  and never to ask her about.

For all these years he had honored that, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man came across the box – and took it to his wife’s bedside. She agreed it was time he should know what was in the box. When he opened it he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000.

His wife explained, “When we were to be married, my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was never to argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.”

The little old man was so moved he had to fight back the tears. Only 2 precious dolls were in the box, so obviously she had only been angry with him 2 times in all of those years of living and loving.

“Honey,” he said, “That explains the dolls, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?”

“Oh,” she replied, “that’s the money I made from selling the dolls.”