Earthly and Heavenly Rewards

The New Testament is all about parables, right? Here are a few more I am studying this week ;)

The parable of the rich man; he came to Christ asking what he could do to gain eternal life. Christ replied that he should basically keep the ten commandments given to Moses. The man replied, "all these I have kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" (Matthew 19:20)

Christ's reply to this was for the man to sell all that he had and give to the poor, but the man left in sorrow because he was rich. This goes back to my point from last week (?) about being rather than just doing. This man wanted something to do in order to gain eternal life. He was not very concerned with who he actually was becoming. Even though he was rich, this "something" - to give all he had to the poor - was too hard for him because he was not yet the kind of person that wanted to help the poor. He certainly could have done it and become closer to Christ and more like Christ because of it, but my guess is that the little things he had previously been doing - keeping the commandments - weren't changing him enough first.

When we make these kind of sacrifices Christ has promised us that we "shall sit in the throne of his glory" and that we "shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life" (vs 28-29). The verse I like the best in this parable is 26 stating that "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." If we try to do these things alone, especially the "big" or "hard" things, we will fail. It almost seems paradoxical: in order to follow God, we need His help. That doesn't sound much like following but rather being prodded or led. (Back to the song, Child of God, "Lead me, guide me".) Isn't this how we raise our children, though? I've been asking Via for hours to pick up all the candy she spilled in my bedroom. She probably can't do it on her own and I should probably go help her ;) I've been busy balancing chemical equations and figuring out how many grams of iron are leftover in a certain reaction and haven't wanted to go help pick up candy corn. I tell myself that she made the mess and is capable of picking it up, but that's not really true. Even as adults, we make messes of our lives all the time, at least I do, and am still in desperate need of Christ's help to pick up the pieces. By doing the things He asks of us and letting Him guide us, we are then able to follow Him.

The second parable is in Matthew 20 about the laborers in the vineyard all getting paid the same amount for different amounts of time worked. (This sounds like the beginning of a heat equation to me *eye roll*) Anyway, each laborer agrees to work the day for a penny, so those that are present in the morning start then. The lord of the vineyard goes out and recruits more laborers at the sixth, ninth and eleventh hours and pays them a penny for the day as well. Obviously the ones who have worked all day feel taken advantage of since they had been there all day in the heat of the day and were paid the same amount as those who worked only one hour. The lord replies, "Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is (take what we agreed upon) and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?" (vs 13-15).

It does sound harsh, right? Some of us probably even get like this with our actual employment rates. But that's not exactly what Christ is trying to portray here. What about those who come unto Christ in the eleventh hour? Are they not just as blessed as those who have lived His gospel all their lives? Will they receive less eternal life because they were not recruited until later? No. This can bring comfort to many who have not had the opportunity to live the Gospel their whole lives. No matter when we come unto Christ, He has promised us blessings for following him - or for allowing ourselves to be led by Him. For those of us that have been "working" in the vineyard all day, it gives us the opportunity to learn more and perhaps some of us need more practice ;) I definitely need more practice with patience, especially when it comes to Via peeing on the stairs, which I now have to go clean up...