I like this parable of the vineyard labourers in Matthew Chapter 20:1-16. In the parable the householder hires labourers to work in his vineyard at various times of the day; for a penny a day for all of them. The workers that worked one hour got paid the same as the works that worked all day. Our Lord likened the kingdom of heaven to this. The last will be first and the first will be last. That means that those labourers that only worked an hour in the vineyard were called to receive their pay before those who had worked all day. Those that had worked all day were upset because of those that only worked an hour receiving the same pay.

What I take from all of this is that someone such as myself who isn’t as mature of a Christian as say a pastor of a church receives the same reward as that pastor who labors in the gospel of Christ and runs a church. I believe that reward to be eternal life, of course. Even Christians who hardly ever read their Bibles receive the same reward as someone who spends their entire life intensely studying the bible, evangelizing and serving the lord diligently.

I love this parable. It is absolutely beautiful.