The age-old issue is: “Who’s in charge?” When God gave Adam & Eve one commandment in the Garden, the issue wasn’t what the commandment was, the issue was why He gave them one. He told them that He had created them to relate to Him and to rule with Him. He went on to explain that He was going to allow them to rule over all creation…and that would always go ‘well’…as long as they were allowing Him to rule over them. That one commandment was intended to demonstrate their obedience… their ongoing desire for Him to be ultimately in charge… that He was King… and while they were granted stunning benefits… they were still the subjects.
Jesus told the parable in Mark 12:1-11 about the owner who created a vineyard… and equipped it for total success…. And then rented it out to some farmers… only to then have those farmers beat & reject all His servants He sent in to collect just a small percentage of the profit. When He told this parable, He was reiterating what God had in the beginning… “Never lose sight of who is temporarily in charge VS who is ultimately in charge.”
Mark 12:1-11 teaches me that: “God sends us ongoing ‘messengers’ to remind us that our ‘vineyards’ belong to Him”
So receive God’s messengers that He sends your way… when you’ve gotten off mission or off message… don’t shoot the messenger. Messengers like: The Sabbath; The Tithe; His Word; a friend; a spouse; a circumstance
Remember that the vineyard you possess is only temporary… your time; resources; abilities; opportunities; relationships; all have His image stamped on them because they belong to Him… they don’t have your image stamped on them because… well, you get the idea.
And finally, don’t forget that He is ultimately going to call us to account for what we did with our/His vineyards. He tells us ahead of time what we can expect on our final exam.
* In the Great White Throne Judgement we will be asked: “What did you do with my son Jesus?”
In the Judgement Seat of Christ we’ll be asked: “What did you do with the stuff I entrusted to you (time; resources; gifts; relationships; opportunities)?” Did you use it for my glory or yours?
What attitude or behavior do you need to further embrace in order to align yourself with who’s in charge?
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