Friday, December 2nd, 2005
A Good Tenant – Edition #1
OK, so I don’t know what I am going to study today. I have been thinking about a number of things of late, I still have the dream thing to look at, but I am placing that on the back burner, to get my mind in the right focus for studying that one out. My brother had a disturbing dream a few days ago… got him to church, but my sister had to go with. My son now has a tooth, his first. My wife pointed out that their was a new moon a few days ago. Weird. I ended up reading a ton of stuff yesterday, last night actually, and it is like the more I read, the more I forget. When I was in the eighth grade, I tested college level in Math, but 6th grade level in English. I actually tested college level in Science, but my grades never showed that revelation. It could’ve been the drugs bringing me down, too… not really sure. But, here I am. After taking my wife out on a date, I am here typing away with what will be my quiet time.
Matthew 21:33-46
33 "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.
38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
41 "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."
42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
43 "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Mark 12:1-12
1 He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
6 "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
7 "But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven't you read this scripture: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
12 Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.
Luke 20:9-19
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
13 "Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'
14 "But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
"What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!"
17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Several things I see in these scriptures. First: Respect, do I respect the son? Second: Is it marvelous in my eyes? Third: Am I fleeing as no one is pursuing?
The first thing, am I respecting God? I have come to realize that respecting someone doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to agree with the idea. I respect the speed limit, but sometimes I wish I could go 75 instead of 60, especially when I am running late. I do it (go the speed limit, not speed), but I don’t like it. Another way to say it, I appreciate what God has done for me. What kind of tenant am I being for God? Do I appreciate what God has done for me? Do I revere him? I am not a reverend by any means. Only God is in my mind. I mean, who else deserves to be revered?
Leviticus 19:32
"'Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.”
Note: I need to revere my God and show respect to others.
Ephesians 6:5-8
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
Note: If I am to react this way with my employer, how much more should I show respect and fear to God. Do I look at those I work for by serving with respect and fear? Do I serve wholeheartedly?
Wholehearted (adj.):
A Good Tenant – Edition #1
OK, so I don’t know what I am going to study today. I have been thinking about a number of things of late, I still have the dream thing to look at, but I am placing that on the back burner, to get my mind in the right focus for studying that one out. My brother had a disturbing dream a few days ago… got him to church, but my sister had to go with. My son now has a tooth, his first. My wife pointed out that their was a new moon a few days ago. Weird. I ended up reading a ton of stuff yesterday, last night actually, and it is like the more I read, the more I forget. When I was in the eighth grade, I tested college level in Math, but 6th grade level in English. I actually tested college level in Science, but my grades never showed that revelation. It could’ve been the drugs bringing me down, too… not really sure. But, here I am. After taking my wife out on a date, I am here typing away with what will be my quiet time.
Matthew 21:33-46
33 "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.
38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
41 "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."
42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
43 "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Mark 12:1-12
1 He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
6 "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
7 "But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven't you read this scripture: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
12 Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.
Luke 20:9-19
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
13 "Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'
14 "But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
"What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!"
17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Several things I see in these scriptures. First: Respect, do I respect the son? Second: Is it marvelous in my eyes? Third: Am I fleeing as no one is pursuing?
The first thing, am I respecting God? I have come to realize that respecting someone doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to agree with the idea. I respect the speed limit, but sometimes I wish I could go 75 instead of 60, especially when I am running late. I do it (go the speed limit, not speed), but I don’t like it. Another way to say it, I appreciate what God has done for me. What kind of tenant am I being for God? Do I appreciate what God has done for me? Do I revere him? I am not a reverend by any means. Only God is in my mind. I mean, who else deserves to be revered?
Leviticus 19:32
"'Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.”
Note: I need to revere my God and show respect to others.
Ephesians 6:5-8
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
Note: If I am to react this way with my employer, how much more should I show respect and fear to God. Do I look at those I work for by serving with respect and fear? Do I serve wholeheartedly?
Wholehearted (adj.):
- Marked by unconditional commitment, unstinting devotion, or unreserved enthusiasm.
Are my deeds marked by unreserved enthusiasm? Do I feel unstinting devotion to my work? Well, when I have been employed, I can say that I was nowhere near these things. I’m talking China here. I’m in Texas and my heart was in China. All the way across this world… I can’t say there was any respect there… so there is going to be a change in my life when I head back to the workplace. So, tomorrow I will move on to point #2.
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