Jesus tells the story of a man with two sons. He told both of them to go out and work. One said he would not go, but later changed his mind and did go. The other said that he would go, but he did not go. When he asked the religious leaders, to whom he was telling the story, which son had obeyed him, they answered correctly that it was the first. These leaders knew that he was equating them to the disobedient son.
We aren’t off the hook either. I know I always say that I want to do God’s will, but I often end up disobeying him. God has a way of confronting me through his Word and through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It is sin to pretend to obey God when our heart is far from him because God knows our true intentions. Our actions must match our words.
I want to be one who, when the Father says “Go out and work in the vineyard today,” I say, “Yes sir, I will,” and then I go out and DO as he tells me to do!” I want to live in true obedience to God!
Matthew 21:28-31a (NLT) - “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.”