⁹ He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. ¹⁰ At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.¹² He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
                                                                        -Luke 20:9-12
 
In this week’s parable, Jesus is re-telling a thinly veiled version of the historical relationship between Israel and God’s prophets, aimed at the religious leaders in the audience.
 
Time and time again, God sent the prophets to re-direct a wandering people. Time and time again those prophets were not only ignored but they were beaten and abused.
 
This story would be an easy occasion for smug self-righteousness if it weren’t also most of our stories. 
 
Throughout our lives, God sends opportunities our way to turn toward him, return to him, or re-direct our steps. Time and time again we ignore those opportunities, sometimes angrily pushing them away.
 
Some questions for you to consider today:

1. What have God’s corrective calls in the past looked like in your life?
2. What’s been your typical response to those corrections?
3. Where you’ve ignored, pushed back, or played through God’s correctives what have been the consequences?
4. What might it look like today to be freshly open to how God might want to direct or re-direct you?

 
Spend a few minutes thinking through each of the above questions. If you’re in a season of resisting God’s correction, embrace the opportunity today to repent of that behavior. If there are some un-resolved experiences in the recent (or even distant) past, take a moment to ask forgiveness. Pray for a fresh openness to God’s voice and leading, no matter where that leading might be taking you.