The Last Hour

In Matthew 20:1-16, we read a parable Jesus told about a landowner who hired workers at different times of the day and when evening came, he paid them all the same wage, which, by the way, was the amount each one had agreed to upon hiring.

The workers who had been there from the beginning of the day to the end were indignant saying, "These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day" (v. 12).  To which the landowner replied, "I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?....Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' (vv. 13-15).

The obvious take away from this parable is that God will accept us regardless to when in life we come to him.  Whether we give our lives to him when we are very young, serving him for decades, or come to him very late in life, he accepts us and blesses us in the same way.

However, there is a subtext of extreme important that is often overlooked in  the discussion: The workers actually entered into the field, they actually spent whatever time left in service to the owner.  The meaning so  often overlooked is that coming to the Lord, at whatever stage in life, means accepting him as Lord for the rest of your life.

No one came and stood in the line, Jesus talked about, who did not work in the field.  Coming at the last hour of the day doesn't mean waiting for the line to form to jump in at the last moment to receive a blessing from the One you never served.  Coming at the last hour means you've actually turned to the Lord in belief, which will alter the way you think, talk and live.

Can one make a death-bed confession of Jesus and be saved?  I believe so, but it has to be real.  It cannot be just a profession of a belief in Christ for "even the demons believe that--and shudder" (Js 2:19).  It must be the outpouring of a true faith in the Lord, entrusting your life and offering yourself to him.  If that has happened, a turning away from a life of sin to a life of service, then whatever life you have left is his and so are you.  Jus' Say'n.