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Body and Soul Publishing

1 Hour’s Work = 1 Day of Work?

September 28, 2018 By cjhitz Leave a Comment

Read Matthew 20:1-16

Farm workNo fair! Not in our eyes anyway. Jesus tells this story about an owner of an estate who hires some people to work in his vineyard. Some of these workers show up at the crack of dawn, some show mid-morning, some at lunch time, another group mid-afternoon and then one more batch show up one hour before quittin’ time. At the end of the day when paychecks are being handed out, folks start noticing each check is exactly the same, regardless of how many hours each person worked. Before long the grumbling begins and one worker approaches the owner:

Worker: Uh, boss?
Owner: Yes?
Worker: The boys and I have been talking and it seems you
made a mistake with the paychecks.
Owner: Oh?
Worker: Yeah, those slackers who showed up an hour before
quittin’ time got the same amount as those of us who broke
our backs the whole day in that scorching heat!
Owner: So?
Worker: So…it ain’t fair!!
Owner: What do you mean it ain’t fair? Didn’t I pay you the
wage you agreed to?
Worker: Well…yeah but…
Owner: No but about it! I’ve got every right in the universe to
pay my workers what I want, regardless of the time they clock
in.

*Note: I sometimes imagine the “worker” having a thick New York accent like Paulie in the movie Rocky.

And so it is, Jesus said, that many who are first now will be last then; and those who are last now will be first then. (v. 16)

This is no doubt some crazy calculating huh? What are we to conclude after reading a story like this? Some may call this communism though I don’t think any communistic country in the world would allow the “one hour slackers” to be paid what they were. Some may say this kind of system would create a practice of folks showing up one hour before quittin’ time regularly, thinking they’ll get the same wage. Do you really think an owner like this could possibly be taken advantage of regularly? Don’t think so. There’s a theme in this story that I think can be summed up in a word: Grace.

A good definition for grace would be getting something good that we don’t deserve. Imagine an atmosphere where folks showed up for work knowing the boss just might bless them with something unexpected…or even undeserved. Now translate that same formula in life.

Imagine serving a God who just loves blessing the socks off of folks who don’t always deserve it. A God who gives the same reward (eternal life) to someone putting their trust in Him at eight years old as he does to the person who’s eighty-four before making the same decision. A God who treats the high school drop out the same as the Doctor. A God who extends the same love to both the disabled person and the most talented athlete. Some might call this a “waste” of good resources and they would be correct. Divine grace does have a wastefulness about it. That’s the nature of this Jesus and his Father. They just love to waste their vast resources on those of us who’ve spit in their faces at various times in our lives.

This kind of arithmetic will never seem to add up in our human minds. If we would begin leaving the calculations to God rather than playing the “That’s not fair” game, we would find ourselves being grateful for what we’ve each been given.

*This was an excerpt from our book Forgiveness Formula: Finding Lasting Freedom in Christ

Filed Under: Devotional, excerpts Tagged With: fairness, forgiveness, God's grace, grace, love, Matthew 20, mercy

“C” Students vs. “A” Students

September 27, 2018 By cjhitz Leave a Comment

Read Matthew 4:18-22

Forgiveness FormulaUp until the second quarter of my eighth grade year, I garnered my fair share of Cs in school. My grade point average went from 2.7 the first quarter to 3.63 the second quarter. Why the sudden improvement? My mom motivated me more than she ever could have imagined by telling me that college basketball scouts looked at the grades of players all the way back to the middle school years. This wasn’t completely accurate information but it worked. Though I still had a C from time to time, they came fewer and further between. Back in those days, I ate, drank and slept basketball and my dream was to play in college and eventually the NBA. My grades weren’t going to stand in the way of that dream.

It was similar for teens back when Jesus was alive. Jewish boys and girls would often attend school until age ten where they would literally memorize the Torah which is the first five books of the Old Testament. From this point only the best and brightest boys would go to the next level where they would study the rest of the Old Testament Scriptures until age thirteen or fourteen. And finally, only the cream of the crop would be chosen to “follow” the local rabbi. This elite group of disciples would go where he went and eat what he ate— modeling their lives after the rabbi. Those who didn’t make the previous cuts would pick up the trade of their mother and father like carpentry, sheep-herding, or fishing.

Guys like Simon, Andrew, James, and John hadn’t made the cut. So instead of following the local rabbi, they were down by the docks, working the family business. It’s interesting that Jesus went after men the local rabbi had rejected. Instead of targeting the cream of the crop straight A students, Jesus offered His invitation, “Follow Me,” to former C students. They would become followers of the ultimate Rabbi.

Can you imagine schools like Harvard or Yale going after C students? Once again, this sort of math wouldn’t fly in today’s competitive, dog-eat-dog society.

No wonder Matthew 4:20 says these guys left their nets at once and followed Him. They were being given an opportunity they thought was lost. To follow a rabbi in Jewish society was the greatest of honors.

The qualifications for Jesus’ honor society are different…boy am I grateful!

 

*This was a brief excerpt from our book Forgiveness Formula: Finding Lasting Freedom in Christ

 

Filed Under: Devotional, excerpts Tagged With: disciples, following jesus, forgiveness, forgiveness formula, jesus, matthew 4

The Weaver Poem

April 16, 2013 By shelleyhitz 4 Comments

In light of the recent tragedy in Boston,
this poem came to mind…

The Weaver Poem

“The Weaver Poem”

My life is but a weaving, between my God and me,

I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily,

Oftimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent, and shuttles cease to fly,

Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.

The dark threads are a needful in the skillful Weaver’s hand,

As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

–ANONYMOUS

{Included in the book [easyazon-link asin=”B00ALLQW5A” locale=”us”]”Trusting God When Bad Things Happen”)[/easyazon-link] by Shelley Hitz}

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00ALLQW5A” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Qz54WLLWL._SL160_.jpg” width=”107″]

 

Filed Under: Christian Inspiration, excerpts Tagged With: the weaver poem

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