Tuesday 14 Dec 2021

December 14: Matthew 12:28-32

Key Verse: Matthew 12:30
‘Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go.

Devotion:
This always reminds me of Samuel jumping up and rushing through through to Eli thinking it was Eli calling out to him in the middle of the night. What he was hearing was God Himself calling out! When Samuel finally understood it could be God, he was told to stay in bed and simply say “speak Lord for your servant is listening.”

Why does it remind me of this? Because of the listening and obeying parts. Samuel was learning to be a good student by listening to Eli and obeying him. Now God was calling him and it was time to listen to his new master. This father was counting on his sons to help with the work in the vineyard so they could get a good harvest. The first son turned round and said no! He didn’t want to have to go out into the vineyard and work all day; but after thinking about it, he knew it was right to go and work otherwise they would all lose out.

The second son, however, said yeah, no problem… but never turned up for work. Instead he just ignored the request to help out. This same thing is happening with the kingdom of God and His Word. Many people say “yes we will pray for you” or “we will come to church” or “we will help with the food bank” and never turn up! What use are they in reality?

God is asking each one of us to step forward and take up our burden – He wants us to work with Him in the field. We may not like the sound of it, but we know it is right. We may not want to get involved, but we know we should! God just wants us to be people who do the work without grumbling...

Points to Ponder:
Do you get asked to help out?

Are you going to say yes and turn up to help out?