Kingdom Parables - Unmerited Favor (Daily Devotional)

Shalom and thank you for joining us through this entire week as we have been looking at a series called as kingdom parables. We looked at many parables through the last couple of days, learnt about the spiritual truths and looked into how and what Jesus did and what He wanted to reveal to us about the mysteries about the kingdom of God. For our devotion today, we are going to be looking at a parable from Mathew chapter 20, which is a parable of the laborers in the vineyard. As a context of this parable, the disciples wanted to know from Jesus what reward they would be given to those who give up everything and follow Jesus. In response to that, Jesus explains this parable about the kingdom of heaven. This parable is about a landowner who hires workers throughout the day. Some came early in the morning to be hired for work, while others at the 3 rd , 6 th and 9 th hour and some of them even came at the 11 th hour. When the work was over and evening came, the landowner was paying the workers wages. He paid each worker the same wage regardless of how many hours each of them worked. Those who were hired first complained saying that it was unfair and the landowner responds saying he paid them what was agreed upon and chose to be generous to the later workers. The message we want to highlight today is found in Mathew chapter 20, verse 16 which reads, ‘So the last will be first, and the first last.’ No matter how long or how hard a believer works during his lifetime, the reward of eternal life will be the same and will be given to all and eternity of heaven in the presence of God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God reveals God’s unmerited favor where salvation is not earned by our efforts or because of the number of years we know Him, but it is freely given because of His grace. We see in the parable that the workers who worked all day expected more because they worked longer, yet, the landowner showed equal generosity to those who came later. This shows us that salvation is a gift of grace, a grace that none of us have merited, not something we can earn of our own efforts or works. In God’s kingdom, no one can claim greatest status or favor because He has given each one of us grace that has been undeserving. The landowner’s words go like this, he says, ‘don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?’ This gives a depiction of the sovereignty of God. God doesn’t operate like we do. His grace is not based on human standards but on His perfect wisdom and love. This shows that God’s kingdom reverses worldly ideas of status and achievement which is what matters most to those who are in the world. This parable reminds us that God’s kingdom is abundant and is full of grace, generosity and divine justice. Whether we walked with God for years or have just turned to Him, His love and salvation are equally available to all. Let’s pray together, Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given us salvation because of your grace and favor over us, nothing for what we have done or how we have believed, you have sought after us. We pray that we will be faithful sowers into your kingdom bringing many to you knowing that your grace is made available to each one of us. Thank you for the kingdom of God that we await, in Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen Thank you for tuning in to Living Supernaturally, for more resources to strengthen your spiritual walk, please visit apcwo.org.