"The first will be last and the last will be first" - what really matters.

Scripture: Exodus 16:2-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45  • Jonah 3:10-4:11 and Psalm 145:1-8  • Philippians 1:21-30  • Matthew 20:1-16

This week God hears the grumbling of the Israelites in the wilderness, complaining that they don't have food to eat - that it would have better to have died as slaves in Egypt where they at least had food to eat. In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, God hears the complaints of those who came first and worked longer than the ones who worked less time, but all were paid the same.

We read that God rained down something on the Israelites. What was it? What does Jesus mean when he teaches us "the first shall be last, and the last shall be first?" Read about what really matters to God, and what should really matter to us in The Rev. Dr. James C. Howell's "Small and White, Clean and Bright," and "The Generosity of God," by The Rev. Dr. Michael Foss.