The Last and The First
It is true that an incident proving the saying "the first becomes the last" sometimes happens.
For example, Mr. Obama was the last who came to Washington DC far behind Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Kerry, and Mr. Biden. But, it is Obama who assumed the office of the US President after Mr. Bush.
Matthew 20:1-20New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.6 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?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “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.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘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.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”What is the most essential in this episode is the word of Christ: "Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? "
Christ Jesus did not say, for example, "These last persons are taking care of 100 patients, 100 poor people, and 100 victims of crimes sacrificing themselves. That is why they came late. That is why I want give them money."
But Christ Jesus said that it was his own right to give money to those men as much as to others while they worked only from five o'clock in the afternoon.
Then you might think that next day everybody might come to be hired only at five o'clock but not early in the morning. But in the early next morning, those who had been hired at five o'clock in the day before would come to work to the vineyard. And those who came at five o'clock of the day on purpose should feel ashamed of themselves. Since then, nobody would work in a dishonest manner.
So, the main reason for this handling of workers and wages must be that there are more important factors in any given situation that are related to the outer environment. And, a matter in a closed situation should be sometimes managed with an eye to a wider environment. And a result of such care might sometimes look like "the last will be first, and the first will be last."
In addition, it is often easy in any project to accomplish 99% of required work but there is sometimes the most important and difficult challenge lying in the last 1%. Therefore, we sometimes need an expert or a special worker who can handle such a challenge. It is a matter of quality and not quantity. It is also better in a long war to threw new force to the last battle to make a victory sure.
The last does not mean the least important, as the first does not mean the most important. With this in mind, foolish and unnecessary competition should be avoided as as not to make unlucky people more unhappy.
Now, Obama became the first. But who is now the last? Hillary Clinton?
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Act 11:13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
Act 11:14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.