Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Father, when I hear the truth, please convict my heart and help me change my life. I don't want to ignore or rationalize my sin away. I don't want to let Satan harden my heart to the truth. Help me be convicted of my sin and commit to live your truth no matter the personal cost to me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Then Jesus told the people this story: "A man planted a vineyard. The man leased the land to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time. Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to those farmers so that they would give him his share of the grapes. But the farmers beat the servant and sent him away with nothing. So the man sent another servant. The farmers beat this servant too. They showed no respect for him. The farmers sent the servant away with nothing. So the man sent a third servant to the farmers. The farmers hurt this servant badly and threw him out. The owner of the vineyard said, 'What will I do now? I will send my son. I love my son very much. Maybe the farmers will respect my son!' When the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the owner's son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then it will be ours!' So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him. "What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers! Then he will lease the land to some other farmers." The people heard this story. They said, "No! This should never happen!" But Jesus looked into their eyes and said, "Then what does this verse mean: 'The stone that the builders did not want became the cornerstone '? Every person that falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on you, it will crush you!" The teachers of the law and the leading priests heard this story that Jesus told. They knew this story was about them. So they wanted to arrest Jesus at that time. But they were afraid of what the people would do.

Related Scripture Readings

When the people heard this, they felt very, very sorry. They asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter said to them, "Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Then God will forgive your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you. It is also for your children and for the people that are far away. It is for every person that the Lord our God calls to himself."

"My brothers, I know you did those things to Jesus because you did not understand what you were doing. Your leaders also did not understand. God said that these things would happen. God said through the prophets that his Christ would suffer and die. I have told you how God made this happen. So you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God and he will forgive your sins. Then the Lord (God) will give you times of spiritual rest. He will give you Jesus, the One he chose to be the Christ.

In the past, people did not understand God, but God ignored this. But now, God tells every person in the world to change his heart and life.