The eleventh hour is the nick of time, just before it is too late to complete a task or make an appointment. It is a yearning to use time judiciously especially when there’s some compensation.
A master went out early in the morning to hire workers and arranged to pay an agreed some for the day’s work. Much later in the day, he went out and found others standing idle and hired them. At the eleventh hour, he goes out again and finding some hanging about, he asks why they waited idle. No one has hired us is their reply. So, they were looking? He hires them too.
At the end of the day’s work, everyone gets their wages. The first group had worked longer hours of course, and thought they’d receive more for their time. They grumbled about receiving the same sum as the last set of hired hands.
The master’s reply to those grumbling is intriguing. He paid what they’d agreed upon at the time of hire and He is just!
Like me do you wonder about the master’s decisions? Why did he pay them all the same wages?
Did he feel that the last group did a better job than the others even though he hired them late? Perhaps, he was rewarding their persistence in seeking opportunity? They could have quit just before he found them concluding it is too late in the day for hiring, right?
Makes me think, life’s wages may not make much sense looking on the outside.
Some may have to wait and a lot can happen at the eleventh hour to make waiting worthwhile.
Seize the day!
If you would like to read about the bricklayers who were rebuilding a church click WHERE DID REUBEN GO?
Nice write-up!
I was just telling my friend about that.