Murderous Tenants

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I am really being tested right now. In areas of trust. In areas of faith. In areas of courage. Have you ever been in a time such as that? I bet you have.

In these times I always look for that spark of the Holy Spirit - in my day, in my scripture reading, even in my thoughts - (but you have to watch out there!)

In these times of trials or testing, the journey is a process. And I am currently in a process, so strength and direction, courage and faith, are being built up but are not complete. So patience and prayer are the go-to dynamics right now.

In that light of picking through the pieces and assembling the Lord's direction, I came across a scripture yesterday that somehow fits in this mosaic. It is the parable of the tenants. You can find it in Matthew 21:33-46.

In the parable, there was a master of a house, a landowner who built a vineyard. This vineyard had a winepress, a tower, and a fence around it. He then leased it to tenants to care for it and harvest the grapes and make wine. And the landowner went away. When the season came for fruit harvest, the landowner sent some of his servants to the vineyard to get his fruit. But something had happened to the tenant between the time he was established as a tenant and the time that something was required of him, the fruit. He had claimed unlawful ownership of the vineyard and it's fruit, and he became murderous.

Jesus asks those listening to the parable a question - he asks them what the landowner would do when he comes, and they answered that he would let out the vineyard to other tenants who would give him the fruit is in their seasons.

Most Christians know this story. I certainly did. Yet something new popped up in my mind with this reading. I thought about the transition that happened to the tenant. He began to consider that he had an ownership of the vineyard that he did not have. And he became a murderer to try to keep the vineyard and its fruit. Why?

I put myself in the place of the tenant to visualize the initial excitement of a new venture and motivation to tend the vineyard to have a great crop and all with the understanding of the agreement with the landowner. So where might I have transformed from an agreeable tenant to a murderous one? I think the personal ownership of the work. In all the labor exhausted towards the finished product, I became proud and possessive.

And that is my thought for today in the mosaic of direction I am seeking from God. I do not own this life nor do I own all my efforts. When the Lord comes knocking to collect the fruit or efforts or understanding of my life, I must be willing to give it. It's not mine after all.