Have you Accepted Your Invitation? When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ “Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ “Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ “And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ “And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.” Luke 14:15-24 In Israel’s history, God’s first invitation came from Moses and the prophets; the second came from His Son. The religious leaders accepted the first invitation. They believed that God had called them to be His people, but they insulted God by refusing to accept His Son. It was customary to send two invitations to a party, the first to announce the event and the second to tell the guests that everything was ready. The guests in Jesus’ story insulted the host by making excuses when they received the second invitation. In Jesus’ story, many people turned down the invitation to the banquet because the timing was inconvenient. We too can resist or delay responding to God’s invitation, and our excuses may sound reasonable, work duties, family responsibilities, financial needs, and so forth. Nevertheless, God’s invitation is the most important event in our lives, no matter how inconveniently it may be timed. What are your favorite excuses? Jesus reminds us that the time will come when God will pull his invitation and offer it to others. Then it will be too late to come into the banquet.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:05:39 +0000
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