"It's the thought that counts", right?

My favourite parable in The Bible has always been the one about two sons (Matthew 21:28-32).

The parable tells of how their father asked his sons to go and work in his vineyard. The first one says no, but later on he changes his mind and goes. The second son readily says that he will go, but never goes. I can remember how surprised I was when I read in verse 31 that it was actually the first son who had obeyed his father! My young mind couldn't understand how his response translated to obedience. He had blatantly told his father that he wouldn't go to the vineyard to work.
But I had missed the point: in the end, he is the one who did exactly what his father had asked him to do.

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