God Pays the Going Rate

God Pays the Going Rate - Matthew 20:1

In the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, a vineyard owner hires some people at daybreak (around 6:00 a.m.) to go and work in his vineyard. He agrees to pay them a day's wage for a day's work. These are local fellow Jews who work day to day in people's fields to provide a living for their families. They are very grateful to find work for that day and quickly go to the assigned location and begin working.


Having a job to provide life's necessities is similar to having eternal life. Of course, in reality, eternal life is not something we "earn" by working in a field. The privilege of working in this field would be like the privilege of being allowed into Heaven when we die. However, eternal life is the wage for accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This gives us the relevance for this parable. Eternal life is yours regardless of how hard or long you have worked for the Lord. Read on and see how Jesus uses this to illustrate the point that he is trying to make.