- David Osteen
Step 9: Parable of the Foolish Workers

There was a landowner who decided one day that he wanted to dedicate a portion of his vast acreage to harvest crops. He lived in a land where all around him people were impoverished, and he alone had wealth and power. He loved his people though and decided to pay them to come and work his land; and so he hired about 50 servants. The landowner declared unto the servants
“If you come
And work this land
The fruit of labor
I shall place in your hand
For upon the day of harvest
When all the labor has ceased
Then you shall join me in my house
As together we doth feast.”
And so the eager laborers
Began to diligently work
And through hot sweltering days
They did never shirk
They cleared the trees
In the springtime breeze
And the grass did yield
To their sickles in the field
Day after day
They arrived at the plot
Hoping and praying
That the harvest would be a lot
For they knew their reward
Would be ever so great
If upon the master’s return
A bountiful harvest they did create
But though they worked
Oh so hard
Day after day
The soil seemed marred
For that’s the only explanation
They could come up with in convention
As to why nothing grew
Just escaped all comprehension
Did they not sweat both blood and tears
And labor very hard
Did they not plan, clear, and plow…
And for their master take much regard
By day the sun had surely shined
Upon the land fair and bright
And the ground was properly watered
Both by day and by night
But when the master returned
From his long and distant trip
He was astonished and upset
For his servants he did fully equip
To grow unto him a harvest
That would feed the entire land
And save the famished people
From poverty’s cold dark hand
And how had they repaid him
What had they now done
For surely now all would hunger
And perish for the foolishness of some
But unto their master they told
How they worked and did obey
That they surely were not lazy
And had tended the land everyday
And so as the servants continued
To cry, beg, and plead…
Their master asked but one question,
“Yes, but did you ever plant the seed?”
But before you are quick to judge
How foolish this people to be
Let us stop and ask ourselves
If we’ve lived by 1 Corinthians 3
“Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers…” Let us be God’s FELLOW workers as we dedicate ourselves to planting the seed of God’s word in the hearts of those we have the opportunity to come in contact with, and let us plant with prayer.