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.