The hours of the day are passing. This corresponds to our slowness to hear and respond to God’s message. The kingdom of heaven is like a situation where people need a lot of persuasion to be made to work. None volunteer; the owner comes out to them, and they come in only because they are persuaded to work. So stubborn and rebellious is the human heart that all would reject the grace of God without the drawing of the Holy Spirit, overcoming their resistance.
What a great battle conversion is! You are at the mercy of the world and carried by lust. When God challenges your soul, there is a fierce battle. The devil is just getting going to make you vain, pompous, conceited. If you don’t believe he exists, he can do all he wants with you. When you come under the gospel, he strives to make you find fault with the message. You never would come but for this, God works.
It is the third hour of the day. This could correspond to people in their teens. You hear the gospel; Christ calls you to come to him, and many do come in early. Perhaps more come before twenty than at any other stage of life. But by this time it is not easy. In our teens we are optimistic; we live for the present. Does anyone seek God naturally? No, we are not into serious things. We trust this world. We are rather naïve. It is a great world; it keeps its promises, and I trust in it. Our peer group influences us more than at any other time. We are ready to succumb to the suggestions of friends and break new moral boundaries. Fashions are what we admire, and this effect is stronger than we like to admit. Character is going downhill. Yet many in their teens hear the call of God. Suddenly eternity matters immensely. What am I here for? God gives us discernment to see the sham of this world, and the influence of our peers is broken. I am a sinner, proud and foolish. We hear of Christ: how that beyond all expectation he came and died for sinners like me. The Spirit makes us aware of how much we need to be forgiven, and we must feel it deeply. Opposing thoughts also arise in us: ‘What will my friends say?’, and there is a battle in us. Peer group pressure is so powerful. The young person needs tremendous courage, because he or she must stand against it. Most don’t want to be out of step. But the Lord continues to draw us, and we come, and God so blesses and changes us that we have courage to face these difficulties. We come to see the emptiness and vanity of life. It is wonderful to see the grace of God – people more mature than their years, stronger than their parents often. So, on the one hand young people are fickle, but on the other hand God is powerful to save.
But many others dismiss the call. They are swept over by this world and its novelties and bright lights, and there are forming tumours of pride, vanity, and lust. They admire decadence. They want to do their own thing. No one can tell them anything. They put the blindfolds on and say, ‘Isn’t it lovely to grow up?’ Sometimes there is deep and intractable sin: in our language, in giving way to the flesh. ‘What is the matter with bad language?’ we ask. It may be obscene. Anyone can see it as offensive, but it is our way of saying, ‘I do what I like; this is the way I mark out my territory.’ It is a statement we make to God. We are suspicious of him. We would rather engage in futile chatter than consider serious eternal things. Never mind that in terms of the parable we will end the day with no pay – we will lose heaven, and eternal happiness; much blessing will be lost. We have to wake up to the urgency of the situation.