[Jesus said] “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his supervisor, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

—Matthew 20:1-16 (TNIV)

Here is a wonderful story about God’s gracious sovereignty. It is full of hope because it reminds us that right up to the point of our physical death, it is never too late to be part of God’s eternal kingdom. I am sure Jesus aimed this story, in part, at the self-righteous of his day (and to ours). It is God who gives life, not us, and he can give life to whomever he pleases. Moreover, he is abundantly generous in giving life to us. We have the very cross of Christ as proof of this.

If you are in despair that God can never love you because of who you are, take heart and hope. God’s generous and gracious love transcends our unworthiness. We simply have to assent to his gracious offer to have life and then work to get to know him better so that he can prove to us he is good to his word!