God's word for me for 2011 Part 3

"And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'
Matthew 20:6-7

The 11th hour pertains to the last working hour of the day. A lot of people think not much can be accomplished in an hour. In fact many laborers start preparing to head home on the 11th hour (last working hour of the day).In this passage we see potential workers standing idly in the market place "all day". If you are one of this men howwould you feel? There is something about unemployment that is discouraging or disheartening. By the 11th hour these men must have lost hope.Thankfully the landowner had a different view of the 11th hour. The 11th hour to him presented opportunity to hire some more people until before the closing of the work day. So, he sets out looking for more workers in his field. There are several insights I glean from these passages.

First is the 11th hour ushers in opportunity...
(a)  to bring in the harvest. This is something that the landowner saw. The opportunity was so great for him that he did not mind paying a day's wage for a laborer who will work his field for only an hour. What would be willing to pay to bring in the harvest?
(b)   To encourage those around us to work in the vineyard. Can you imagine how encouraged those men who were employed on the 11th hour were? After a day long of rejection from potential employers someone finally hired them. 
(c)   To seek for workers and enlist ourselves as workers. The landowner went out seeking for workers not just one or two or three times during the day to seek for workers in the field. At the last hour, he went out again and hired some more to bring in the harvest. We too must assume the attitude of the landowner. We must encourage each other to work in God's vineyard. In fact we must encourage ourselves to be a worker in God's vineyard.

Secondly the 11th hour can be an hour of hope, restoration and breakthrough. As mentioned earlier the unemployed men who waited until the 11th hour to be hired must have felt discouraged and felt like a failure. As they watched the sun set their hopes diminished and darkness started to envelop their spirits. Yet like the landowner the 11th hour does not have to make us feel like it is too late. A breakthrough is still possible on the 11th hour. At the end of the day those who were hired on the 11th hour were paid a whole day's wage. What would have happened if they gave up and just reasoned..."yeah right just how much will I earn working for an hour? But they did not. They agreed to work for the landowner on the 11th hour and they were rewarded beyond what they have expected. 

In conclusion the 11th hour can be an hour of disaster or utter waste or an hour of opportunity or breakthrough. How the 11th hour will be for us will depend on the attitude and the choices we make. I pray today that we will make the right choice and allow the Lord to use us even if we feel we have wasted so much time and it seemed like it is too late to start now.God is calling you this 11th hour and is telling you ...I want to hire you to work my vineyard....What would be your response?


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