The 11th Hour
“And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’” ~ Matthew 20:6-7 (ESV)
Some of us are ‘life-long’ Christians; some of us wander off to see what else is out there (people like me). Others don’t trust in the Lord for salvation until the 11th hour…
Evel Knievel lived a life as a ‘dare-devil’. I am sure that many of you know of him. He enjoyed defying death – he enjoyed being famous, the money. But in April of 2007 everything changed for him. God reached down to claim his life. Evel’s name was now written in the book of Life.
Let me share a quote by the now departed Evel Knievel, which really made my heart leap:
“I know there’s more to life than what I had,” he said. “I wrote a book saying I had a life better than anyone, better than any president. Hogwash, because I didn’t have Jesus Christ in my life.”
“And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’” ~ Matthew 20:11-12(ESV)
To be honest with you, I have not understood the above passages until about a couple weeks ago when I was reading Max Lucado’s book “3:16”. Oh, I did understand them with my head, just not with my heart. Why would God give some people time until the 11th hour to trust in Jesus for salvation? Because God is grace – God is mercy…
You know, I think it so awesome that God never gives up on a soul until the very end. We all have family or friends who are not Christians. They might believe in God, but don’t trust Him for their salvation. They want to add to their own salvation — ‘it just can’t be that simple to go to heaven’…
I would like to challenge you for the next month. I would like you to start praying for someone in your life. That God may soften their heart to receive the free gift of salvation this Christmas. Wouldn’t that be a great Christmas gift?
Lord of Heaven and Earth. Thank You so much for Your free gift of salvation. We are humbled to know that You do not give up on anyone until the end. Lord, please help us to pray for someone in our life who does not know You yet as we know You. We are trusting in Your mercy. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen.
Blessings on your day and as always…
Such a great challenge my friend, I am accepting this challenge. I will be praying for my brother.
Iris, what a beautiful post and what a wonderful thing to pray for — the salvation of someone we love as a Christmas gift! I am in daily prayer for my 18-year-old son. He has a “beautiful mind,” in that he is truly brilliant and logical and analytical and I am so afraid that all of that intellect will be his downfall. He requires scientific proof of everything. Faith is for the weak. I pray for him and will pray until the day I die or until the day he comes to Christ. God bless you for sharing these thoughts. And I have GOT to get that book!
Iris, I cannot imagine a better gift than a loved one coming to the Lord this Christmas season. Thanks for sharing your heart and passion. -Laurie
What a great challenge this Christmas season! I would love to see my sister come to the Lord. I will make a more concerted effort to pray for her over the next month. Thanks for sharing!
I think this is such a great challenge! I’ll be joining in, too!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and the verses with all of us. Glad to hear you are inspired to pray for the ones who do not know Christ. *smile* I too pray for those who do not know and for those who know of God and choose not to fallow Him.
Harvest blessings.-me-(Mommy of two little blessings)
I really enjoyed your thoughts. My mother died at 84. I tried to ‘save’ her for many years. Because of something she shared with me before she died I am sure she is with him. I had a name come to mind to pray for but thought Why…then I laughed and said to myself…God put that name there. Listen to him. (o:
This is a wonderful challenge. Thank you.
Thank you for calling us to pray for our loved ones and others. Praise God that He is at work always, even in that 11th hour, bringing them to Him!
What a wonderful challange! I think I will take it up, and since I have several people, I will pray for a different one each month.
What wonderful news about Evel Keneivel.
…and I can’t think of any greater gift than that for Christmas.
Thank you for sharing this, I did not know that about Evel Knievel (went to college with a relative of his). My prayer is that my father in law and maybe my mother in law are 11th hour Christians. I think my mother in law is a Christian but I am not totally sure, but I know my father in law is not.
I pray our life and my husband’s life will be an example of Christ’s grace and mercy.
Thank you for a wonderful devotional.
Thanks for reminding us that God NEVER gives up on us! I will be praying for a sibling……and anticipating, hoping…..that he will accept Gods gift this Christmas 🙂
Oh Iris,
It thrills me to know that our God doesn’t ever give up on someone. Never…. There is hope for my husband and all the spouses of the readers at SUM. What rejoicing there will be because many many come to know Him, even if it is in the 11th hour, it is all good! Great post.
I have taken the challenge to pray for my sister. She has strayed and made some bad decisions in her life. She now is suffering from severe arthritis. Thanks for this post and God bless.
I was just doing a post for Thankful Thursday and decided to visit you today. I’m glad I did. This is such a wonderful post. That scripture is hard for so many people, because it doesn’t seem fair that someone who just became a Christian at the 11th hour should get the same reward as someone who had spent their whole life in service to God. It is my prayer that there will be many 11th hour conversions and also many lifelong ones. Thank you for this post. It has challenged me to pray harder.
Blessings,
Charlotte
Oh Iris, thank you for this post and the challenge in it. I will be praying for my oldest brother it would be the best Christmas gift to see him accept Jesus as Lord.