The stand.

"So the last will be first, and the first will be last." --Matthew 20:16.

Twenty-first century life is very competitive: sports teams are shedding sweat, blood, and tears to see who is the best; people are rushing through doors to see the number one movie on the charts; and résumés are being polished to fight for the position in a business. Although this arms-around-the-neck-of-the-opponent atmosphere is in the worldly parts of our lives, we shouldn't let our competitive tendencies be a trait of our spiritual lives.

There are no winners or losers of faith. In God's eyes, we are all equal. How could it be any other way? We cannot make God love us any more or less than He already does, no matter what we say or do:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So wait... what's the talk about being first and last then? When I run to call shotgun and my sister gets to the car after me, does that mean she gets shotgun? I know that's how I've been exposed to that particular verse, but that's taking it way out of context.

The true context is a parable in Matthew 20: A landowner goes to town to find people to tend to his land for the day. He promises every person that he hires a denarius for the work they do. At the end of the day, each person hired gets a denarius, but the problem is that the people who were hired earlier in the day--and, in turn, worked longer--saw that the people who were hired later in the day--and, in turn, didn't work very long--getting a denarius, so they assumed that they were going to get more. The landowner's response to such reaction to his generosity was a question: "I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?" (v. 13). It was the landowner's money to give, not the men's, so they didn't have any right to judge.

This parable was explaining how the kingdom of Heaven is: God lines us all up and gives us the gift of live through His Son, Jesus Christ, no matter how long we have been following Him in faith. Whether we have been Christians for fifty-five years or five seconds, we receive the gift that God promises us. He even loves those that deny Him. We have no place to say that someone doesn't deserve God's love.

Every one of us have been given our lives: lives that are perfect in God's eyes. We shouldn't be dissatisfied in any way. We all have fallen. We all deserve the penalty of death because of our sin, but we have all been redeemed through the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord and Savior. Thank the LORD for the life He has given you, for it is a life that could never be replaced.

God bless!