As a child, I grew up working in the field. My only contribution was to work and watch the paddy field, corn field, mustard field, and fruit farms according to the season.
There was hardly any time left for playing football or resting as much as the younger version of me had wanted. In between schooling and study, most of our time was spent working and watching the field.
The cold dew in the early morning, and putting my feet in the cold water in the muddy paddy field weren’t enjoyable at that time. However, without work, there would be nothing to harvest before winter sets in.
Non-workers and non-keeper:
Now consider this; The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15. In some versions you will find different wordings -to cultivate, to farm, to dress and keep the garden, etc. However, it is important to note that God did create man with a purpose and to not simply stay lazy in the Garden.
‘Am I my brother’s keeper,’ retorted Cain when the Lord God inquired about his brother Abel whom Cain had killed.Gen.4:9-10 It shows man’s jealousy and the inability to watch and keep even their own family.
Soon after he became restless wanderer, Adam and Eve has another son name Seth. Cain was punished and his way of living changes as he did not keep his brother. He went out from the Lord’s presence. Cain wandered to become a builder. Yet the Lord God protected him.
Working believers:
Harvesting is the job of the believer. The time has not come yet to simply take a rest and enjoy. We were to work according to the will of God towards perfection. There will be times, we were given a specific task to work on it.
In that way, watching over the herds, in a specific and targeted group would also sometimes be our job. The evil one has the job of snatching away the good ones who were with a conviction to work on themselves for the Kingdom of God.
Hiring Kingdom workers:
All of us were invited to work in the kingdom. Pay and rewards are not the first concern. Here is the parable of the workers in Matt. 20 “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 foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
Rewarding workers:
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius – an ancient Roman silver coin, originally worth ten asses/donkey. So, when those 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 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.’Matt 20:10-15
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. 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.”
Non-working person:
For some years now I have not been working a regular job. I get a lot of inquiries regarding the reason behind it. Some of the intruding questions that followed were; ‘Are you not bored? What did you do during the day? Sleep? Not only that, they mostly did not give me a chance to reply to them either. So, I am fine with it.
Yes, I did resign from my regular job for a reason that I thought would better suit us as a family. Second, my health failure and worsening chronic disorder make me unstable to take up a job for quite some time. However, now I might be ready for it.
Third, I have published several articles and books to encourage someone like me. I’m trying to participate as a worker, in the ways I could in the Kingdom of God. There were so many things we could do from home. However, as a man our wants were never limited nor fulfilled.
We’re all workers and keepers in the garden of the Lord God! Let us uphold each other in our prayers.
