Jaime Delgado (center) with his parents Pedro Sr. and Ximena after his baptism!
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
This parable is about the amazing grace that God has for in store for all who respond to His call to serve Him. The different times that the individuals are approached throughout the day really depict the stages in one’s lifespan. When God invites you to come and work in His vineyard, don’t turn Him down. When Jesus calls someone to follow Him, the timing is perfect.
Matthew 4:17-20
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘ Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘ and I will make you fishers of men. ‘ AT ONCE THEY LEFT THEIR NETS AND FOLLOWED HIM. ”
If we trust God’s timing and respond to His call, we will avoid so much more damage caused by the continuous sins that will plague our life. And if we decide not to respond to His call, we gamble with the fact of never being called again, or worse, not recognizing the call of God when it comes again. Our heart can become more and more hardened and cynical from our sin and the sins of others inflicted upon us.
Proverbs 4:23 says; “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
