OUR DAILY BREAD : LATE ARRIVALS WELCOME

[cimi]

June 30
Sunday


LATE ARRIVALS
WELCOME

READ:
Matthew 20:1-16
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I wish to give to this
last man the same as to
you. __Matthew 20:14
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One night when I visited a nursing home, a resident named Tom slipped out quietly from his room, hoping to catch me to chat. After we talked awhile, he asked, "Won't God be insulted if I become a Christian this late in life?" Tom's question wasn't a surprise. As a chaplain, I often hear it in varying forms from the elderly, from those who struggle with addictions, from former prisoners. They think they have a legitimate reason to believe it's too late for them to know God or to be used by Him.

Tom and I spent time exploring people in Scripture who, because of their past, could have thought it was too late for them to know God. But Rahab, a prostitute (Josh. 2:12-14; Heb. 11:31), and Zacchaeus, a tax collector (Luke 19:1-8), chose faith in God despite their past.

We also looked at Jesus' parable of workers in the vine-yard (Matt. 20:1-16). The earlier the hire, the more labor they were able to give the vineyard owner (vv.2-7), but those hired later discovered they had equal value in the owner's eyes and would be rewarded equally (vv.8-16). The vineyard owner chose to be gracious to them all.

No matter our past or present, God longs to show us His grace and bring us into relationship with HIm. __Randy Kilgore

````````Father, we are amazed at Your grace! Thank You that`````````````
````````we can come to You a any time for forgiveness and be`````````````
``````restored to relationship with You. Thank You that we can````````````
``````````now be used by You to touch the lives of others.````````````````
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To give your life to Christ now is to keep it forever.

******************Today's bible Reading __ Matthew 20:1-16**********************

1 For the kingdom of
heaven is like a landowner
who went our early in the
morning to hire laborers for
his vineyard. 2 Now when he
had agreed with the laborers
for a denarius a day, he sent
them into his vineyard....

6 And about the eleventh
hour he went out and found
others standing idle, and said
to them, "Why have you
been standing here idle all
day?" 7 They said to him,
"Because no one hired us."
He said to them, "You also
go into the vineyard, and
whatever is right you will
receive."

8 So when evening had
come, the owner of the
vineyard said to his steward,
"Call the laborers and give
them their wages, beginning
with the last to the first."

9 And when those came who
were hired about the eleventh
hour, they each received a
denarius. 10 But when the
first came, they supposed that
they would receive more; and
they likewise received each a
denarius. 11 And when they
had received it, they
complained against the
landowner, 12 saying, "These
last men have worked only
one hour, and you made
them equal to us who have
borne the burden and the heat
of the day." 13 But he
answered one of them and
said, "Friend, I am doing you
no wrong. Did you not agree
with me for a denarius?

14 Take what is yours and go
your way. I wish to give to
this last man the same as to
you...

16 So the last will be first,
and the first last. For many
are called, but few chosen.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Jesus taught many parables about the kingdom of God using the
characteristic phrase "the kingdom of heaven is like" (v.1). Other
parables are found in Matthew 13, 18, 22, and 25.