Being in the market




Do you ever get discouraged? I''m sure you''re saying, "Who me?! Never!!" But if you''re anything like me, after awhile of waiting on the Lord for His promises and you don''t see any­thing, you get a little discouraged.
When I went off to Texas that was how I felt. After trying to follow God''s will for my life and failing. I felt I would never get it right, that God had forgotten me. Somehow I had slipped through His fingers never to be thought of again. Praise the Lord that''s not the truth! He has us engraved on the palm of His Hand. (Is. 49:16) When I finally realized that, is when the Lord began to speak to me on being in the market.
Matt. 20: 1-16 is the parable about a landowner who went to the marketplace to hire workers for his vineyard. It begins, "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, "You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. " So they went. Again he sent out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others stand­ing idle and said to them, Why have you been standing here idle all day?" They said to him, "Because no one hired us." He said to them, "You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive. "
So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, "Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first. " And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had re­ceived it, they complained against the landowner, saying, "These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the heat of the day. " But he answered one of them and said, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful of me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?" So the last will be first and first last. For many are called, but few chosen. ,,.
Now let''s look very closely at this passage and see what Jesus was really saying. In Biblical times the marketplace was where you went to find a job. These workers come to the market early in the morning in hopes of being hired. They came fully prepared with all their tools. If you notice the word ''idle''. When we hear the word idle we think of being lazy, and unproduc­tive. That is not what the word means in this instance. A good word picture for it would be like a car idling. It''s running and ready to go all you need to do is put it in gear and step on the gas. In the same way we need to be idling, not just sitting at home and waiting for God to come knock on the door. We need to be preparing ourselves, reading the word, praying, diligently seeking Him.
In this passage we see that the landowner is the Lord, we are the workers, and the vineyard is the lost souls of this world. The Lord comes many times to the marketplace looking for those who will an­swer the call. He even came at the last hour before quitting time.
Too many ofus sit in the marketplace until the 9th hour waiting for God to use us. When we see nothing happening, we quit and go home. Just when He was about to call you out. That is why it is said, ''''many are called and few are chosen .. ". My friend we need to stay in the market and wait on the Lord as we live in this last hour. Our Father is looking for those who have the persistence to wait on Him and serve Him with passion and zeal! Isn''t it awesome that He is the God of the eleventh hour and He will use any willing vessel. He will also give us the same reward as those who have borne the "heat of the day". Praise the Lord! I encourage you today to get yourself ready. Be prepared so when He chooses you, you can say, "Here am I Lord, send me!"