Matthew 20:1-16
The picture that Jesus gives us of the master/landowner in Matthew 20:1-16 is an impressive one. This man is the owner of a vineyard and he needs workers. So he goes to town and negotiates and secures a number of different men to work for him. But while he's taking care of important and necessary business needs, he still takes note of and extends a helping hand to those in need. His kind and generous heart is evident.
So do you know anyone that reminds you of this landowner? How would you describe a generous heart? How do we develop one? Tami W.
A generous heart beats when it gives. Its like I say, to live is to love and to love is to give.
By human nature we are not generous at all, we are all naturally self-concerned. So generousity, in its purest form, is most definately supernatural; it comes from God. If we desire to grow in this virtue we must take a page from God's book, literally. The Bible teaches us how to give. It changes our hearts as the Holy Spirit renews our minds.
Generousity is a character virtue and for us to grow in this virtue we must practice it as well as pray for it.
There is so much more that could be said about generousity but I think its very important to temper our giving with wisdom as did the master of Matthew 20:1-6.
Thanks Tami.
Just found out about the Powered by 4 and as a pastor am considering letting people in the church know about this as a resource to encourage Bible reading.
You have good questions for the text that bring out some good points! Could I make one suggestion? I really like people to interact with God during their Bible reading time & not just think about facts or applications. One thing that helps me is to write out my prayers to God in response to the text I have read. This helps me always keep my focus on the Lord and talking to Him about what He is telling me.
Idea: Maybe add a simple sentence at the end of your questsions that says something like: "Now write out a prayer to the Lord about what He has communicated to you today."
Just an idea. Thanks for encouraging people to get in the Word!
Larry W.
This is such a good story to remember. Just recently at work some of us had vacation time taken away from us. I was one of them and thankfully and prayerfully I didn't get angry. The new people got more then we did as new people and I just said oh well. I know it was Christ in me. And then later they told us that if we were there more then 5 years we were grandfathered in so I got it back. That was nice to hear. It was good that I didn't get angry.