DON’T BE ENVIOUS

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, `You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, `Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ “`Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, `You also go and work in my vineyard.’ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, `Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

“The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. `These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, `and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, `Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:1-16 NIV

God is calling for laborers to work in His vineyard. He even tells us to pray for laborers in Matthew 9:37-38. “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” There is plenty of harvest waiting to be reaped. The Lord needs more of us to hear and heed the call to be His voice and His hands in the earth today.

We are each a part of the body of Christ. Even though we have differing functions, we are all equally important in the grand scheme of things. We all have a place in this world and it is important that we do what God asks us to do – that we perform our function and meet our responsibilities. We need to forget about who gets paid what and we need to concentrate on pleasing God and doing only what He has asked us to do.

The Lord rewards us for whatever we do that He has asked us to do. He does not judge one ministry as better or more important than another. He rewards us according to our obedience, not according to the size of our ministry. He is not a respecter of persons. Romans 2:11 says that, “there is no partiality with God.” God is impartial. He treats us all the same. If we labor in His vineyard, He will bless us all the same.

In Matthew 20:11-12, the laborers who were hired first, grumbled against the landowner because, at the end of the day, he paid everyone the same wage even though they had worked all day and others had worked a shorter time. Some of them had only worked for an hour! They had agreed to the wage and had no right to complain. They were envious because the landowner was generous!

We have no right to be envious just because God is generous. God rewards us all the same. As we obediently work to do what He has asked us to do – He will reward us accordingly.