“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. “When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. “And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. “Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ “They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ “When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’ “But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ “So the last shall be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:1-16).
TIME.
"...a landowner who went out early in the morning "
timing is everything. Time must be definite.Notice the landowner went out early in the morning.
When are you setting out about your vision and mission? What are you doing with your time? Are you wasting it or are you investing it? Time is so precious that the bible commanded we must redeem it.
"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time."(Colossians 4:5).
If you do not learn to walk in wisdom with people who are outside (people could not see what you see on your inside) you will realize that you are continually wasting your time. They may be well-intentioned people who loves to have you in their company. They will always wants to see you, grab a coffee, chat online, play some games. They wants your life to be interesting. However, they cannot see the vision of God for your life. You got to learn to love them, yet wisely turn down some of their invitations. What you see on your inside is what makes them outsiders! An outsider cannot see what an insiders is seeing. Usually what you see for your life, must be the focus. That must be the principal thing you spend your time upon. Some good people will waste your time. Some nice people will invite you over, thereby distracting you from your assignment. If you are not disciplined, you will engage activities that are not purpose-related and purpose-driven. You will wind up running other people's lives by following their agenda at the peril of your own. Activities takes up time. Time takes up life-time. If i can persuade you into running my activities, i have persuaded you into giving me a fragment of your life! You can travel long distance in the opposite direction of your dream if you are not disciplined with your time. Where you intends to go must determine who you give your attention and spend your time with.
MISSION.
"to hire laborers for his vineyard"
Mission must be specific. The mission statement of the landowner was to recruit!
I want to ask you: what is your mission in this life? What are you here for? What are are you called to do? Why are you here? What is the reason for your existence? Assuming someone put a gun to your head right now and you have just one reason to convince the fellow not to kill you. What will be the compelling reason they must allow you to stay alive? If there must be one reason to see tomorrow, what will it be? If there must be one reason not to send you to war-front without a weapon in your hand, just for you to die, what will that reason be?
NEGOTIATION.
"When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day..."
Negotiation is the central determinant of profit. Life will pay you whatever you ask of it. The landowner had to agreed with the labourer for a denarius as wages for a day. The labourer had to agreed to be paid a denarius as their wage for a day. Perhaps, you are wondering how does this apply to you? Most people are asking for a raise at work but they are not getting it because of their negotiation which has got screwed the very first day they stepped into that establishment. Rather than get a raise, they are being fired! Many of us are hired somewhere and we are complaining about our low wages. We are asking for the Labour Unions to fight on our behalf. We are crying for minimum wage. We are going on strike and boycotting work. The fact is that we had forgotten that we agreed for a denarius for a day. We should have told the employer that sometimes down the road, i will need a raise. After my performance appraisal show that i am an effective employee, i will want you to start paying me something higher than a denarius or a dollar per day. We have forgotten that we agreed to be paid as salary. We have forgotten that we signed a contract, while getting recruited for this job. We forgot we signed up for this. So, after a long time on the job. Optimisms vanished. Productivity decrease. And the root cause is because we felt we are being paid lesser.
CONSISTENCY.
Repetition is the essence of success. Repetition is boring but you cannot successfully reach your goal without some "good" repetition.
I don't care what you do, if it is in line of purpose, if it is in respect of your vision, then contnue doing it. By all means stop repeating foolishness that is not moving you towards your dream! If it is an activity that leads to the achievement of your plans, then; do it over and over. Do it again. Do not stop doing what works!
If a principle works, won't you replicate it? Did you notice the consistency of the landowner in Jesus parable? His character was constant! Notice that he (the landowner in Jesus' parable) was doing the same thing throughout the day? He went out in the morning into the marketplace and continue hiring people all day! The landowner was consistent. He was a recruiter. He knew his job insdie out. He knew where tyo go and what to do. He was running two business simultaneously. He was running a vineyard and a recruiting firm. He did not sit down after hiring the first set of employers. He knew that soldiers go, and soldiers come. He knew some people may not stay with his establishment. He knew some people will quit on him. He knew some people will not show up on time. He knew some people will be lazy. He needed to keep his business running smoothly. So what he did as the company's CEO was to consistently recruit people. He was continually hiring for operationality of his Vineyard business. Let me stop here for a second and ask you.
How consistent are you? What is one thing you are doing consistently to keep your business running? What is one thing you are doing daily to give your dream an expression? What is one thing people know you for? What is one thing you will be missed for? What is one consistent thing you do which the whole world will miss when you die?
LOCATION
"in the market place"
"in my vineyard"
"in my vineyard"
Are you aware of your location? Are you aware that your location partly determine who see you? it determines what you are exposed to? It determines who you see? It determines who you relate with? It determines how you are perceived? It determines what you perceive? It determines what kinds of opportunity you harness? The issue of location is too broad to cover in this single writing. The place we were born influence our life because there is something called "location culture". Every place has its own culture. Everywhere you go, the people of the place have their ways of operation. There is no place without a culture. That is why people experience culture-shock when they relocate from one place to another. The understanding of the new place hit you on the head like a rock. "Bang!" And you are made to realized that you are no longer where you used to be. As a result, how you act here must be different. How you relate must change. This is because location has power! In the parable of Jesus, the landowner was seen in two basic locations: the market and the vineyard. Let us pause here for a second. What does the marketplace symbolize? Market is synonymous with commerce, business, marketing, transactions, sales, bidding, commercial activities, productivity, capacity, volumes, profits, professionalism, networking, relationships, demands, supply, et.al. Now let us address some of these things one after the other. Consider what you know about each of them. How skilled are you in marketing? What do you know about bidding? When is the best time to close a sale? How professional are you? How productive are you? What is your capacity like? God cannot be mocked.Whatever a man sow, he will reap.What most of us need is improved capacity.Productivity is a function of capacity.Prayer and fasting really work wonders.In point of fact,you can add some mountain-climbing to the list.If you so wish,add a prophet offering but they will only help if you are able to see opportunity and maximize them.In other to see opportunities, you must be prepared.And to be prepared,your capacity must increase!
REDEPLOYMENT."....he sent them into his vineyard"
Redeploy! Redeployment is the reason why Jesus wants you hired! And if the title of this piece is about hiring? Then, we are back to where we began from! Your recruitment is a priority to God. Your employment is a principal thing! Jesus wants to hire you! God wants to recruit you for productive end. Are you ready for Him? Are you available to work? Are you prepared to go out and do some real work on your vision? Are you determined to go all out and do whatever it will take to succeed? Are you braced to start working on your dreams?
Redeploy means to move or allocate to a different position, to use, to reassign. (dictionary dot reference dot com).
You also go into the vineyard. To do what? They don't play in the vineyard. If He was asking them to go into his vineyard, it is to earn some money and make some profits! God wants to reassign you to a duty-post for profits and earnings. He wants to give you something to do with your time. He wants to help you achieve something meaningful with your life. He wants to see you productive rather than standing around idly all day.
"...Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?" (Matthew 20:6b).
God does not want you to stand doing nothing! Are you presently jobless? There is something for you. There is a job you can do. There is a work to do. The pay may be lesser than you expect but it is better to do something than nothing. If you do nothing, you will reap nothing. If you do something, you will earn something! Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."(John 5:17). I don't know what the heavenly Father is doing? I don't know the nature of his job.I don't know where he works or who his employer might be? All i know is that He is working. And I imagine that He (God) must be a self-employed person. Since there was none greater than Him, He swore by Himself. God is accountable to someone. He is reporting to a supervisor and that person, that supervisor is called God!
The bible said in Hebrews 6:13 that: "When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself".
So, if God is a CEO, then he must be working harder because it takes a lot to run a business. Somehow, God must be paying Himself. And if He is still working onto this very day, despite his achievements in all He has done.
"My Father is always at his work to this very day..."(John 5:17).
Despite the vastness of the whole creation, God is still at work? Does that mean that what we are seeing is not enough? Could it be that there is still much more? Does that mean that there is something called greater works than these which we are meant to experience? Could it be that some things are still available in His name? If God is still at work; then i must go to work too...
"Go to the ant, O sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
Which, having no chief,
Officer or ruler,
Prepares her food in the summer
And gathers her provision in the harvest.
How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
“A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest”—
Your poverty will come in like a vagabond
And your need like an armed man."(Proverbs 6:9-11).
If God is working and the Ants are working. Then, myself being a human being must work! I have no excuse to sit down idly... I must find something to do urgently. I must pick up life. I must get my priorities right. I must go out and try something. I must launch out at my own level and do whatever i can do in my own capacity. I must not consider any effort futile when i have not tried. The prove you have over life in the court of justice is that you tried. Your evidence in the trial of life is that you did your best. I will get my life together again. I will do something. What about you?
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