GOD'S VINEYARD SERIES - 3

And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. [Matthew 20:3-4]


The vineyard is so great, it can contain a vast number of more people. Even though the householder had quite a number of labourers working already, yet, he still went out, to capture the idle ones, to engage the indolent, not because he didn't have sufficient, but because he wanted to engage as many as possible. The Lord is still going out, He is not just looking for parasites in His kingdom, who are going to be sleeping and eating without giving themselves to Him, He is looking for labourers. Many today have come in, but they are parasites, looking for what to get or gain, but they are not after the vineyard of The Lord.


"...the third hour"

Three (3) hours have gone out of twelve (12). 3 out of 12 hours of life has been wasted. A quarter of life had been spent standing by the sideline, moping, while others are engaged in the service of The Lord! Who are those that have expended a quarter of their lives? If a man has 60 - 100 years to live in this world, but has consumed a quarter of it, I suppose that such a person would be between the ages of 15 and 25. Those who have spent a quarter of their lives on the sidelines are the teenagers and those in their early 20s, The Lord has need of them. It appears that they are too young, but The Lord pathetically says, "O, you have wasted 3 hours already of your day, the night is approaching, and still, you are idling away?". The young ones are those with life, with vibrancy, vitality, they have enough energy in their legs to run for God. We may say they are still young, but The Lord is not looking as man looketh, he is actually much more concerned about the hours (years) they have spent in idleness (i.e. their age), than the number of years ahead of them. Great revivalists of old like Evan Roberts, were used mightily by God in their teens, Charles Spurgeon was a teenager when he started preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit, and David Brainerd was in his early 20s when the hand of God was upon him. These and many more are examples of those whom the Lord called at the third hour.


"...standing idle in the marketplace..."

Standing! Idle!! It looks like a contradiction. If it were to read "sitting idle", or "sleeping idle", it might have made some more sense, but "standing idle" sounds ironical.
I am seeing the picture that Jesus is trying to paint here - 'standing idle' - to many watching eyes, these people appear to be busy, working, on their toes, on their feet, getting things done, but actually, as far as Jesus is concerned, they are idle boys and girls, wasting away their lives. Though they may be engaged in many activities geared towards life, good or bad, but inasmuch as they are not expending their energy for the course of The Lord, in the vineyard of the King, they are simply idling away.
You may be busy with business, busy with legitimate activities, or you may be involved in sinful lifestyles, dirty practices, youthful lusts... as far as Christ is concerned, if you're NOT in the Lord's business, you are simply idle, wasting away your youthful life, and time is ticking away.

"...marketplace..."

The world is simply a marketplace. In the market, a lot of buying and selling goes on, there are all kinds of things available, some of them are useful, while there are others you don't need. What baffles me many times, is that what you need is just a little fraction of what is sold in the marketplace, much of the things available for offerings are things that you don't need (at least at the time you went to the market). But the marketplace is attractive, you are engulfed in its radiance, it's beauty, it's offers, you do a lot of window shopping, but you come home with so little. The world is a marketplace, the earlier we realised that, the better. You can only have a little, even though you are wasting time to grab as much, we need to leave the marketplace and be employed in the vineyard of The Lord.

Several youths are in the marketplace of gadgets and electronics, games and sports have taken over their passion and appetites. They seem to be so busy with twitter, facebook, surfing the web or discovering newer technologies. But oh!, in the heart of God, I can hear Him crying out and saying, "what a waste of life".


"...in the marketplace..."

Nobody gets paid in the marketplace, rather, you get spent. When you go to the marketplace, you give out. The much you may think you have, soon diminishes, you get reduced or even totally spent. It's only in the vineyard of The Lord that you're sure you will get your penny at the day's end.

- At the marketplace, no one is important, nobody cares about the other, everybody is only concerned about self, there is mistreatment, partiality...but in the Lord's vineyard, you are treated as a king, with honour, dignity and respect.

- At the marketplace, it's always a place for exchange, whether you are buying or selling, you are always giving something out (goods for sellers, or cash for buyers) in exchange for something else, it's only in God's vineyard that there is an addition, there is a reward, a blessing, a recognition.

- The marketplace is not an end in itself, it's a transition zone, it is where The Lord calls people out of, no one should remain in the market of this world for too long, The Lord calls everyone out of the marketplace into His vineyard where goodness and satisfaction exists.


"...Go ye also..."

God's call into the vineyard of His service is not a persuasive call, it's not a begging or a cajoling call, no, it's a pertinent call, it's an awakening call, it's a call that opens one's eyes to the numerous times being wasted and the necessary steps to take. The Lord is not tired, The Lord is NOT only concerned about adults, in fact, I believe He is more interested in catching the youths early enough before they waste a greater part of their lives in idleness.


"...ye also..."

Even the young ones too?, The Lord says 'yes', what about their academics and ambitions? "So what!, They devote so much to social media, lusts of the flesh, gist, leisure...and this does not hamper their academic and ambitious pursuits, so why not to ME?", says The Lord. All that God needs, is just a yielded heart, a fraction of the youths' leisure, a conversion of their times for lustfulness into a time to love Him, their Lord, and their lives will forever be a fulfilled one".