GOD'S VINEYARD SERIES - No.2

And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. [Matthew 20:2]


"...a penny a day..."

The reward for any labourer who comes into the vineyard of the Lord is "a penny", and that comes at the end of the day. I have often noticed that for anyone who agrees to enter into any employment - be it for the government, for a private business owner, in a factory, shop or any business setup, there is a general consensus that nobody questions, and that is the fact that the reward, pay, wage or salary (as the case may be), actually comes at the end of the day (or week, or month), after the work is done. You are only paid for what you laboured for, and as every labourer begins to engage himself in the task at hand, no matter how cumbersome or tiring the work may be, his consolation always is that "at least, I will get my pay at the end of the day", his only encouragement as he presses on is the pay his work attracts. He is not expecting to be paid at the commencement, midway or even close to the finish line, his eyes are only set on the finish line. The work environment may be serene, but that does not distract his gaze on his final end-of-the-day pay, colleagues and bosses may be so appreciative, yet it's only the attractive end-of-the-day pay that sustains his vigour. He came to work in the first place, not to make friends, it was the wage/salary that brought him, and that is the climax of what he has come for.

A glance at the athletes on the tracks also reveals the same expectation. The crown never comes until the runner has crossed the finished line. Whatever praises, accolades or applause a marathoner may receive while he is still running the race does not amount to anything, the athletes may even be given some coolants to cool off while he runs, but all those are never regarded as a reward, they are the impetus to push on, and these are received by all - both losers and winners. Only the praises, gifts or accolades that come at the end of the race actually counts.

In the vineyard of the Lord, the same is the case, I must set my eyes on the final reward, which is heaven at last, the only passion that should drive me must be the finish line. Once a man loses sight of heaven the final and ACTUAL reward, he becomes a nonentity, only a foolish man will forget the purpose why he came into any employment - I haven't seen a man who forgot to collect his salary at the end of the month just because the office is beautiful, or just because he has been given some additional benefits within the month.


"...a penny a day..."

The penny is the reward for the day's work. Whatever a man may receive in the course of his labours during the day, no matter how colossal, attractive or beneficial, is never counted as the reward, but as incentives to push on to the end. The penny a day is the MAIN REWARD that the Lord gives to His labourers. Other things are available, but they are nothing in comparison. I know that when a labourer comes right into the vineyard, there will be some fruits like oranges, mangoes or pawpaw to pluck and with which to refresh himself at will while he labours. There will be some sugarcane stands that can be cut down free of charge to eat as he discharges his God-given duties, there will be a well of water in the garden from which you can fetch to quench your thirst, the good man of the house may even prepare some sumptuous lunch for the labourers as they tear through the heat of the day..., all these are wonderful benefits that accrue to those who are in the vineyard, which the labourers never pay for, they are counted as fringe benefits because at the end of the day, the labourers will still be paid their penny each, without the Master deducting the cost of whatever they have refreshed themselves with or ate or drunk in the garden while they laboured. No matter how much fruits they may have plucked, the labourers will still demand their wages, those fruits are not the reasons why they came, instead, the wage is. If the labourers are not paid their wages, no matter what they ate or drunk and carried away, the Master is still regarded as a debtor because those additions could never replace or compare with the wages.

It is a thing of shame and disdain today that many believers are beginning to settle down in this world because of the sumptuous fringe benefits that the Lord has released unto them while they are on duty for Him in His vineyard. Many believers have forgotten about the end-of-the-day penny reward [which is heaven at last] and they are already building their tents here in this world by the fringe benefits. The sugarcanes and the pawpaw and the oranges they are plucking as they serve God here below are beginning to cloud their eyes and blind them from seeing clearly, they are becoming landlords in a strange land. Heaven is no more sweet to the taste of many, the worldly riches and materials which the Lord has released unto them here below, which are just benefits of divine service, which they ought to make use of to enable them serve the Lord better with a sight on the eternal reward, these rather have replaced the real thing, the fresh water that flows in the garden of the Lord which the labourers ought to drink as a means of quenching their thirsts to regain more strength for higher service in the vineyard of the Lord, has now become the bus stops, they have relaxed by the well and have forgotten the reward - the reason why they came, what should just be their passage has gradually become their destination.

What baffles me really is that, these fringe benefits [the goods, riches, materials, name, fame, worldly comfort, additions...] are actually for one and all. Imagine if while the labourers are working in the vineyard of the Master, a woman suddenly knocks at the gate of the Master, and on gaining entrance, she kneels before the Master and demands for some fruits and vegetables and water to meet her family needs, I'm sure the generous Master will just direct her with a wave of hand, "go and pluck as much as your soul desires, take as much as will sustain your family and be blessed...". What!!! does that mean that even those who are not labourers, those who are alien to the family of God, those who have not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, they who have never raised a single tool to work in God's vineyard, are also buoyant partakers of these fringe benefits that many labourers (believers today) have counted as the rewards of serving God? YES!!! with alarm!!!. Why should I kill myself then over what many others don't labour to get?, why must I attach so much spirituality and heavenly blessings-mania to common things that even the unbelievers get from God without serving Him?

Believers' REAL reward is THE PENNY, and that ONLY COMES at THE END OF THE DAY. The Penny is heaven and its glories, and this comes after here. Whatever we Christians get from God now, while in His service, cannot be counted as reward of Divine service, because all and sundry, are open partakers of the goodness and benevolence of the generous King. I must not be blind to think that the rewards of serving God are all these fringe benefits, no, they are only released for me in order to keep my eyes forward, in order to keep me in line lest I derail, in order to keep me settled and balanced, lest I faint by reason of fatigue. They are needed and they are essential for my journey and for my labour, to keep me unwavering, but they are NOT the reward, the reward comes ONLY AT THE END OF THE JOURNEY.