Matthew 20

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around.” Matthew 20:1, 3, 5-6a NIV

Though this parable is to represent to us that the kingdom of heaven is equally available to the Gentiles and not just to the Jews, a different thought popped into my mind as I read today’s chapter.

Given the fact that my wife and I are owners of a business (albeit small), we are always looking at ways in becoming more profitable. Even though we (and by we I mean my wife) had done a lot of research in finding the lowest cost on packaging, ingredients, location for production, etc, this does not mean that we no longer investigate other options to determine if we cannot find a lower cost or more efficient way of doing business. The idea of becoming more profitable is continually on our minds and we need to be persistent in this.

What stood out to me as I read the parable of the workers in the vineyard was the landowner. He was persistent and determined to ensure that anyone who was standing around and available to work, was offered a job. He did not pick and choose and he continued to go back to the marketplace to confirm that all people were offered a job.

So the question is, and this for myself as well, how well are we doing at working for the kingdom of God? Are we persistent in seeing if anyone is still ‘standing around’? Have we offered ‘a job’ to anyone? May this be a reminder for us all that the kingdom of heaven is for everyone. But if we don’t tell them about it, how will they know?