Focus: God Pays So Well!

Text: Mt.20:4

"And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you..."

God is the best employer of labor. He pays so well for a job well done. Jesus Christ tells a story in which a master gave talents to his slaves to trade with, and upon his return from a foreign trip came a day of reckoning for those slaves. He says to the first two, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Mt.25:21). Jesus Christ is our Lord and employer; He pays so well for every service we render to Him.

In the heavenly council meeting, the LORD said to Satan, "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" (Jb.1:8). Satan's response comes out well in The Living Bible, which says, "Why shouldn't he when YOU PAY HIM SO WELL?" Our God pays so well. No employee ever suffers in God's employment.

In the story He told of a vineyard owner, those who worked for only an hour received a full day paycheck. He met them idle and hired them, saying, "Whatsoever is right I will give you." His salary is not only fair or just, but also very good. In this story we find two different paychecks: one paycheck for those who bargained for and agreed to the pay, and the other paycheck for those who saw or felt no need to bargain for an agreed pay. They signed no contract with the farm owner. 

It is always sweetly shocking, pleasantly surprising or extremely gratifying when grace settles our salary. Under grace we gain so much for doing so little. Also, grace employs before it rewards. Grace never encourages idleness or indolence. Grace makes room for industry.

Even in eternity we shall be serving the Lord. John writes, "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and SERVE him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them… and his SERVANTS shall SERVE him" (Rev.7:15; 22:3).

Give your best to God! Do the Lord's bidding! Serve the Lord fervently in the spirit! He rewards those who seek Him diligently. Our God pays so well. He will never let you serve Him in vain. He says in his word, "I SAID NOT unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain…" (Isa.45:19). You will have no regrets serving the Lord. Paul says, "But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing… And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (2Thes.3:13; Gal.6:9). God will give you whatever is right. Your labor shall not be in vain. Labor is honorable and rewarding, and it truly pays to serve God. It is not only a privilege serving God, but it is also a thing of joy. Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter