Thy Kingdom Come
“For many be called…” —Matthew 20:16
Read Matthew 20:1-16
When we pray this petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we often think of the life hereafter, when the Kingdom of God shall descend from heaven to earth on the day of judgment. However, our passage also speaks about the Kingdom of Heaven. This Kingdom does not refer to the future, but concerns this earth. The example the Lord Jesus uses in our Scripture passage is also taken from daily life in Middle Eastern culture. A certain householder went out to hire labourers to work in his vineyard. He went to the marketplace on five occasions to hire more labourers, which was not unusual for that time. What was unusual was that each labourer received the same wage regardless of how long he worked.
Wouldn’t we think that this was unfair? A few of the labourers expressed the same sentiment (Matt. 20:11-12). The Lord Jesus then said, “Is thine eye evil because I am good?” God uses a different measuring stick than we do. All these things have to do with the kingdom that He will establish. You may also have a part in this kingdom when you listen to His voice.
In what way does God’s kingdom come?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Educational Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of this book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.