Working In God’s Vineyard Series

In Matthew 21:28-31, Jesus told an interesting parable on Christian service and the kind of attitude to service that pleases Him. A father approached two of his sons and told each son to go and work today in the vineyard. In other words, go and occupy for me in my vineyard. Same assignment, same instruction, different response, different attitude.

We can learn five important truths about occupying for the Lord and Christian service from these two sons.

1. Service is for sons; service is for true children of God

God doesn’t go around telling everyone to occupy for Him. The instruction to go and work in the vineyard was given specifically to two sons. It is His sons; those that have received Jesus as their Lord, Saviour, Master and Redeemer, those that have received the right to be called children of God (John 1:12-13) that God tells go and work for Me in My vineyard. God’s vineyard is a place God puts you to bear good fruit for Him (Isaiah 5:1-2, Luke 13:6-7). It’s a place where to keep you from being idle, to ensure you don’t live a wasted and purposeless life, you are called upon to work for God and after all you have done, you are rewarded for your labour of love (Matthew 20:1-6).

A lot of people are not sons yet they have jumped the gun and are busy working on God’s vineyard. They have run ahead of God to get involved in things they don’t have the spiritual backing and capacity to handle. A typical example is the sons of Sceva. In Acts 19:13-16, the seven sons of Sceva, even though they didn’t know and have Jesus as their Lord and personal Saviour, got themselves occupied and busy with the ministry of deliverance. The demons they were trying to cast out pounced on them and beat them mercilessly. Until you have crossed from darkness to light, you can’t effectively get involved in the works of light. We see from the seven sons of Sceva that you need to know Jesus personally, you need to receive spiritual authority and backing from Him, before you go and work in God’s vineyard otherwise the kingdom of darkness will give you a hard time for joining forces with God when you are still one of them. Besides, no matter how many churches and orphanages you build, crusades you organise, poor people you help, or days of the week you spend in church, it makes no meaning to God if you have not received Jesus into your life; if you are not a son of God. To be enlisted to work in God’s vineyard; to occupy for the Lord, the name heaven pays attention to is not sons of Sceva, sons of Johnson, sons of Tom or sons of Okon. Heaven recognises and richly rewards those who bear the name - sons of God; those who have Jesus’ gene and the seed of God (Galatians 3: 26, Galatians 4:4-5, 1 John 3:9).

Sonship welcomes you into the family of God (Ephesians 1:5). Sonship breaks the power and hold of the curse of the law over your life (Galatians 4:5,). It delivers you from insecurity, timidity to serve, the fear and oppression of the devil and his cohorts (Exodus 4:22-23). Sonship qualifies you to call the owner of the vineyard Abba Father; dear Papa, my beloved and best Dad ever (Romans 8:15). Sonship is what equips and empowers you to serve (John 15:4-5) and guarantees that the service you do for God in His vineyard will receive the Father’s affirmation and won’t be a wasted effort; won’t be a labour in vain (Matthew 15:8-9).

2. Don’t allow personal needs, issues and challenges keep you from obeying a divine instruction

When the first son was asked to go and work in the vineyard, he categorically told his father no, I will not work in the vineyard. His answer appeared disrespectful but he didn’t want to deceive his father. He didn’t want to give his word that he would do something when he knew he wouldn’t. The son must have had a reason for answering his father the way he did. The son wasn’t being rude; he just wasn’t up to the task. Perhaps he was going through some personal issues and challenges at that time that going to work on the vineyard was the last thing on his mind. It could have been that he was going through some financial issues and didn’t have transport money to go to the vineyard. There are some days some people don’t come to church not because they don’t want to, but because they don’t have money for fuel or transport. Maybe the son had borrowed money from people on the vineyard, didn’t have the money to pay back, and so was ashamed to go to the vineyard and meet his creditors. Or maybe there were health issues he was battling with; he wasn’t feeling too well that day. Or it could be that the day the father told him to go and work in the vineyard, was on one of those days that he just wasn’t in the mood. There are times you aren’t in the mood for prayer, bible study or another church service. You are going through some emotional issues and you just want to be on your own.