God is the great giver. From creating us and all that exists, to sustaining life through the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat; to calling Abraham to be the Father of a great nation, to bringing forth God's Son through Mary, to giving his Son for the sins of the world on the cross, God is always giving. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son..." John 3:16
Since God is a giver, and we are created in the "image of God," (Genesis 1:27) it follows that we are created to be givers as well. That is the key to the abundant life God wants for us. And yet, our sinful selves often tell us to do the opposite, to guard what we have for ourselves. The conflict between selfishness (and perceived security) and generosity is always at work within us.
So today we are reminded again of the generosity of the owner of the vineyard. He did nothing wrong in the way he chose to pay his workers. He simply chose to be especially generous to those who worked only a few hours in the vineyard. To whom might we share a little extra generosity with today? Is there a random act of kindness that you might do? Is there some extra time or a few extra dollars you might give, for no other reason than you choose to be generous. God is our model. Let's not allow the sinful self to rule the day, but let's choose to be generous, as God has been generous with us.
I never before thought of this parable as a challenge. Thanks for making it clear that it's a challenge to be generous.
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