When the Good Die Young

Perhaps many of us, upon hearing the Parable of the Workers, think that it is somewhat unfair that a person who lives selfishly their entire life, and then accepts God's forgiveness on their deathbed, could still receive the full blessing of eternal life, even though they hardly served God. We think that those who started later and served longer for the same reward get a good deal. Would we dare to make the same claim if the timeframe was reversed; if a Christian died young? How can we say that a late-comer to faith is getting a good deal, but an early departer is not? In either case, the person receives the promise of Paradise, but without the heat of the day. This message, inspired by Sharon's testimony of beating cancer, and also the possible loss of Trevor's seven-year-old cousin to cancer, is meant to make us as believers ask ourselves whether we REALLY trust the promises of God, AND whether our lives reflect that trust.