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i have felt like these guys...all of them. i've been the guy working hard all day, receiving what i thought was unfair compensation, and griping about it. (i don't know what it means, but i'm sure i've "groused angrily.")

i've also been the guy who came into something just in time to reap huge rewards - the same rewards as everybody else - for work or accomplishments that they mostly achieved without my help.

i've also been in the estate manager's shoes, and i find that i have very little patience in that same scenario.

what's the point? well no matter whom you associate with in this story, you can learn something. the early workers got a fair deal (although they'll probably negotiate a better wage up front next time...or stand around all day, waiting for the last hour) receiving exactly what they worked for. they got what they deserved. they had put in the time and effort. but toward the end, they didn't have to work as hard. if they'd looked around at what was happening around five o'clock, they would've realized that the same amount of work was yielding a lot more results...or that they didn't have to work as hard to get the same amount of work done. that's worth something. (mostly to the estate manager, i guess, but still.)

the later arrivals got a great deal. there they were, at the end of the day, able to say "we got to take part in all that was achieved here today" (which was probably harvesting grapes to make wine or something...and who doesn't like wine?!) and even though we don't deserve this payment, what an awesome thing to receive it!" (i'm sure that's exactly what they said. that's what i would've said.) it's not too late to join in, and it's a very rewarding experience. and when you find yourself in a place where you receive blessings/generosity that you don't deserve, accept it and receive it and celebrate it.

if you're the manager of an estate (which you are if you have a circle of contacts who do and/or don't know christ...which you do...if you're alive), don't stop visiting the town square and looking for more people to join in the rewarding experience that you can offer them. yeah, i like that.

the good news for us (regardless of which person you are in this story) is that the reward that people receive in christ is more than sufficient, moe than fair. it's extravagant and over-the-top and beautiful and fulfilling and overwhelming. where as, a dollar is a grossly under-the-bottom, underwhelming reward for a day's labor, if you ask me. ("i don't roll out of bed in the morning for anything less than a hundred grand a year!" my manager once said that to me when i used to sell cars...and it doesn't have anything to do with the rest of this post, but it's pretty funny. he was only there for about another month...)