But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you. I’ve always obeyed your orders. But you’ve never given me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
‘Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. If anyone wins the victory, I’ll give that person some of the hidden manna. I’ll also give each of them a white stone with a new name written on it. Only the one who receives this name will know what it is.’
I tell you, it will be the same in heaven. There will be more celebration for one sinner who turns away from sin than for 99 godly people who don’t have sins they need to turn away from.
‘Those people who were hired last only worked for one hour,’ they said. ‘But you paid them the same as us, even though we did most of the work and were out in the hot sun all day.’