how many times have you caught yourself saying that? me...too many times to count...it is funny how things are going along quite well...you've forgiven...you've moved on...and then you hear...this person got a blessing...do your insides curl up? or are you truly happy for them?
our reaction speaks volumes of our heart...and true forgiveness...
i was reading the parable in the bible about the landowner who went out early one day to hire workers for the day to pick his crop...you can read it in matthew 20...basically this landowner hired people at the beginning of the day...and then again at the sixth, ninth, and eleventh hour...and when it was time to pay them...he paid them all the same amount...and of course...those that had worked from the beginning of the day...got all worked up...because they received the same amount as those who didn't work the whole day...the landowner of course spoke up and said..."didn't i pay you what we agreed on?
when Jesus told this story...the thing to celebrate was the goodness of the owner of the vineyard..."God"...it was a picture of His kingdom...and it was shocking to the people...
sometimes God's generosity is scandalous...
our reaction to God's scandalous ways tells us how close we are to His heart...are we thrilled that even those who straggled in at the last moment received the same generous grace of God as those of us who were slogging away all day? do we stand in line offended by God's generosity?
God's rules are not our rules...His ways are not our ways...thank God! they are so much greater and higher...
it's much more difficult when God turns the tables and suddenly everything that seemed right is wrong and those who are wrong are given the opportunity to be made right...what makes us happy and what makes us sad are good gauges of where we are in our relationship with God...
do we celebrate his outrageous grace...or do we pout like spoiled children when someone else receives a gift?
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