Day 29

Job 11:1-14:22; Matthew 20:1-19; Psalm 17:6-12

God’s love isn’t fair. I’m sorry to break it to you, but it’s just not fair.

Take these workers in the vineyard, some of the skivers have only worked an hour, sat around in the village square for most of the day, may even have had a drink or two. And then they poll up to work at the last minute, probably do a half-baked job and they get the full pay. Come on. If you were one of the people who had come in early, before the start of the working day, you would be a bit annoyed (to say the least).

Jesus is saying two things about the love of God. 1) it is the same for everyone and 2) we don’t earn it.

Forget working in the fields and fair pay and bring yourself into the very real world of salvation in Christ. Next remember that we are all sinners, we do things wrong all the time. When we are in the place of the person who has not been attending church all their lives, who is coming to Christ for the first time, and it feels late in the day, yet they receive the full wage, the full amount of God’s love. When this happens we know that God’s love is not fair and yet we rejoice in it.

When the lifelong church goer stands alongside the people in this video and each receives offer of forgiveness and eternal life in equal measure then we know that the love of God is amazing.

And we don’t earn it. In Matthew 21:17-19, Jesus predicts his death. Rack the volume up on that video and listen again. It is no coincidence that the background tune is amazing grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9), Yes we are called to live lives worthy of God but it was because of grace that Christ came to the cross, died and was raised again on the third day. Because of grace.

Where are you in that video? Know God’s grace for yourself today. And if you already know God’s grace, then remember that you will meet people today who need to know it, so live it out.