Take What is Yours and Go

 ‘"My friend, I am not cheating you. 

Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 

Take what is yours and go."

MATTHEW 20:13-14

The day of the Lord is at hand (2 Thes 2:2). He has made the world firm, not to be moved; He governs the peoples with equity (Ps 96:10). Therefore, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught (2 Thes 2:15). To this end He has also called you to possess the glory of your Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thes 2:15).   

Jesus said,  "What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Mt 20:14-16)

Today is the day to give what is fair and just to your hired laborers (Mt 20:4). You have agreed with them for their usual daily wage, sending them to work into your vineyard. (Mt 20:1-2) Always be faithful in give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first (Mt 20:8). 

Let no one deceive you in any way (2 Thes 2:3). Know how you are loved by God, how you were chosen. The gospel of the Lord did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with much conviction. (1 Thes 1:4-5) Turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thes 1:9)

Give thanks to the God always as you call to mind your works of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of your Lord Jesus Christ, before your God and Father (1 Thes 1:2). May the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God your Father, who has loved you and given you everlasting encouragement and good hope through His grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word (2 Thes 2:16-17).

God's love always brings glory that lifts you up to higher ground. Glory of making you victorious in all your circumstances and challenges in life (Ps 149:4). This is the glory of all those who are faithful to God (Ps 149:9).

Go and Glean

Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 

“Let me go and glean ears of grain 

in the field of anyone who will allow me that favor.” 

RUTH 2 : 2

Glean is to extract (information) from various sources, collect gradually and bit by bit, or gather (leftover grain or other produce) after a harvest. It is synonyous to obtain, get, take, draw, derive, extract, cull, garner, gather, reap, select, choose, pick, learn, find out.

This is the time to go and glean, extract information from various sources, collect gradually and bit by bit, and gather your produce after a harvest. It is also a time to collect and have a complete account of all the resources that the Lord has given you and all of what you have done (Rt 2:11). Do not go to glean in anyone else’s field; watch to see which field is to be harvested, and follow them (Rt 2:8-9). Your graces and blessings at work shall come progressively so as not to overwhelm you and ensure a steady growth and development. 

The Lord will prove the holiness of His great name through you (Mt. 5:6). Blessed is the Lord who has not failed to provide you with all that you need and want (Rt 4:13).

You shall live in the land He gave as His servant. The Lord will take you away from where you are, and bring you to your own land Ez 36:23). Foreigners shall come to this land that God has given you and they shall see His glory and majesty. They shall regularly come and will even bring you more new clients as their way of offering to the Lord.

The Lord knows your works and your thoughts, you shall come to see His glory (Isa 66:18). He shall grant your request to trade clean water relying only upon Him and not with others. You will receive a new heart and a new spirit within you (Ps 51:12). You shall live by His statutes, careful to observe all His decrees. Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored. (Ps 128:1-2)

God has given you an heir who will be famous in the land that He has given you. She will be your comfort and the support of your old age. She is worth more to you than seven sons!  (Ruth 2:15)

Make Adjustments

Why spend your money for what is not bread; 

your wages for what fails to satisfy? 

Heed me, and you shall eat well, 

you shall delight in rich fare. 

ISAIAH 55:2

One who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor one who loves abundance with its income. This too is futility. (Ecclesiastes 5:10). People will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy (2 Timothy 3:2). For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:10).

You have sown much, only to harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but there is not enough for anyone to get warm; and the one who earns, earns wages to put into a money bag full of holes (Haggai 1:6).

The LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.” (Isaiah 52:3). You there! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (Isaiah 55:1)

Jesus said, “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor does a moth destroy (Luke 12:33). Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." (Matthew 10:8)

The overseer must be beyond reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not overindulging in wine, not a bully, not greedy for money (Titus 1:7). Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you" (Hebrews 13:5).