The "the leading priests and elders" at the Temple were having a discourse with Jesus when he told this parable.

"
A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.

“Which of the two obeyed his father?”

They replied, “The first.”
"

(Matthew 21.28-31 NLT)

Sometimes I am guilty of compromising my convictions in obeying the Lord. I thought, "I should not do this, but ..." or "I should have done that, but ..." and other such excuses.

In essence, I worried about worldly consequences or the "cost of obedience" over obeying him.

Sometimes I trivialised the impact of disobedience. I thought, "that is a trivial matter; it is okay to ..." and so I justified my action. I disobeyed.

Disobedience may seem to bring about short term worldly gain. But God knows everything. His plan is better than anything we can come up with.

Lord,
Please give me the courage to trust you in everything,
big things and small things.

Amen