Filling up with faith in God

Filling a glass with soda can be done two ways: by waiting for the foam on top to go down, so you can fit more soda into the glass, or by pouring as much as you can into the glass until it foams up over the top and drinking that little bit right away!

Jesus would have been great at pouring soda. In this week's Gospel (Matthew 21:33-43), He talks about whether it's better to wait for what you want or get a little bit of something right away.

Jesus said, "A man rented his vineyard to tenants. At harvest time, he sent servants for the crops, but the tenants killed them. So the man sent his son, thinking, `They'll respect him.' But the tenants killed the son." The listeners said, "The man will get rid of the tenants and get good ones." Jesus told them, "In the same way, the people who go to God's kingdom will be those who give its fruit."

How you pour soda depends on how thirsty you are. If you're really thirsty, you can't wait to have a drink, and you'll gulp whatever you can pour, as quickly as you can pour it!

The tenants in the story were like that. They were supposed to get paid after they harvested crops, but they stole the crops instead -- and even killed people to keep them! Like you want soda, they wanted whatever money they could get, as soon as they could get it.

If you take your time pouring soda, you get a full glass. Jesus said that by not taking their time and working, the tenants in the story lost their jobs at the vineyard. Like a full glass of soda, they could have had pockets full of money -- but they gave it up for the quick gulp of money they got from keeping the crops.

Jesus' story was really about God and us. God was the vineyard owner, the vineyard was the world, and we're the workers who don't always do what God asks so we can go to heaven. But only the good workers in Jesus' "vineyard" will see God someday.

The next time you pour a soda, think of Jesus' story. All you have to do to see God is work slowly. Do you really want a little soda -- or God -- now, or a full glass of heaven later?

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me wait and work for what I really want: a glass of soda, or a chance to see you in heaven! Amen.

(10-03-96)

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