He invites, only you can respond
“Jesus replied: ‘A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” Luke 14:16-24
Evite is an incredible invention. On this website you can create, edit and send an invitation to any kind of party, shower, or event that you can dream up. There is no postage, no cost for invitations, (or the materials to make invitations if you are gifted that way) and no limit to how many people you can invite. But there are two things I dislike about evite. First, as soon as I have opened the invitation on my computer, the host of the event can see that I have read it. They know that the invitation was successfully received by me, as the guest, and they know the exact date that I received it. Honestly I hesitate to open an evite unless I have my calendar in my hand because I can’t stand that the host can see that I have received, but not replied. But the other problem I have with evite is that I feel the need to have a really good reason if I can’t attend an event. I know that the host, the guest of honor, and every other person invited to the event can see my reply. I feel this weird pressure to make sure my reason for not attending is a really good excuse!
In the Scriptures above, Jesus is telling a parable; a story with a greater meaning and a spiritual application. In this story, we must understand that it was custom at that time to send two invitations to a party; the first to announce the event, and the second to let the guests know that everything was ready. The guests in this story insulted their host by making excuses when the second invitation was issued! They had previously accepted the invitation to attend the “great banquet”, but now other, more important things had come up causing the guests to make excuses and bow out. In this story, people turned down the invitation because the timing was inconvenient for them. Each had “just bought…” or “just got….” and those things crowded out the commitment that had already been made. So the host of the banquet became angry, and instead invited the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame to enjoy the feast that he had prepared.
On a grand scale, the greater meaning to this story is the entirety of our relationship with God. God, through Jesus, invites us to have a relationship with him. He wants us to be in celebratory fellowship with Him; both in this life, and especially for eternity in heaven. But we are created beings, and we have been designed with our own will. Which means we can accept this invitation, or we can deny it; or to follow the illustration, we can accept the invitation initially, and then find other, “more important” things to occupy our time. In that case, God will invite other needy and hurting people to enjoy fellowship with Him. But on a smaller, yet still spiritual scale, we can do this to God on a daily basis. I don’t know a single sincere Christian who doesn’t want to hear God’s voice. I don’t know any followers of Jesus who don’t want to know Him better and follow Him more closely. Yet the invitation is there; to know Him, hear Him, obey Him and follow Him. We have received it, and He knows it, but we constantly find excuses to not listen or respond. Our excuses may sound good: work, family, finances, insecurity, etc, but they are still just excuses. Accepting God’s invitation on a large scale (to receive Jesus as our Savior and to grow in fellowship with Him) is the most important event in our lives; no matter how inconvenient the timing. On a day to day scale, accepting the invitation to know, hear, obey and follow God is monumental, because the risk of turning down the invitation is that He will extend it to someone more willing than us.
What I don’t want to do is heap guilt upon anyone. Please don’t take from this that if you ever have to reply “no” on an invite your excuses are lame. What I do want to drive home, is that hearing God’s voice takes effort. You have to make time, you have to take risks; you have to TRY! How sad it would be if we completed an entire Bible Study on how to discern God’s voice, and not one participant even tried to practice what is taught. Many people, would rather spend their time elsewhere, and then ask someone “more spiritual” what God is speaking or how God is guiding. God is always moving, always working, and always loving you. Take some time, TODAY, to quite yourself and listen. He invites you to have that kind of relationship with Him, but it’s up to you to respond.
For Further Study
*Do a word study in your Bible. Look up words like “invite” “listen” “guide” or others. Write down what you learn from that!
*Spend some time listening while you pray. Ask God what He would want you to do in a situation or relationship you are facing. Write down what you feel that He is saying and then act on it!
Your Assignment
*Spend some time this week listening during prayer. Share with the group what you feel God is speaking to you. This can be one word, or as long as you want, but share something!
di
But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” Luke 14:16-24
Evite is an incredible invention. On this website you can create, edit and send an invitation to any kind of party, shower, or event that you can dream up. There is no postage, no cost for invitations, (or the materials to make invitations if you are gifted that way) and no limit to how many people you can invite. But there are two things I dislike about evite. First, as soon as I have opened the invitation on my computer, the host of the event can see that I have read it. They know that the invitation was successfully received by me, as the guest, and they know the exact date that I received it. Honestly I hesitate to open an evite unless I have my calendar in my hand because I can’t stand that the host can see that I have received, but not replied. But the other problem I have with evite is that I feel the need to have a really good reason if I can’t attend an event. I know that the host, the guest of honor, and every other person invited to the event can see my reply. I feel this weird pressure to make sure my reason for not attending is a really good excuse!
In the Scriptures above, Jesus is telling a parable; a story with a greater meaning and a spiritual application. In this story, we must understand that it was custom at that time to send two invitations to a party; the first to announce the event, and the second to let the guests know that everything was ready. The guests in this story insulted their host by making excuses when the second invitation was issued! They had previously accepted the invitation to attend the “great banquet”, but now other, more important things had come up causing the guests to make excuses and bow out. In this story, people turned down the invitation because the timing was inconvenient for them. Each had “just bought…” or “just got….” and those things crowded out the commitment that had already been made. So the host of the banquet became angry, and instead invited the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame to enjoy the feast that he had prepared.
On a grand scale, the greater meaning to this story is the entirety of our relationship with God. God, through Jesus, invites us to have a relationship with him. He wants us to be in celebratory fellowship with Him; both in this life, and especially for eternity in heaven. But we are created beings, and we have been designed with our own will. Which means we can accept this invitation, or we can deny it; or to follow the illustration, we can accept the invitation initially, and then find other, “more important” things to occupy our time. In that case, God will invite other needy and hurting people to enjoy fellowship with Him. But on a smaller, yet still spiritual scale, we can do this to God on a daily basis. I don’t know a single sincere Christian who doesn’t want to hear God’s voice. I don’t know any followers of Jesus who don’t want to know Him better and follow Him more closely. Yet the invitation is there; to know Him, hear Him, obey Him and follow Him. We have received it, and He knows it, but we constantly find excuses to not listen or respond. Our excuses may sound good: work, family, finances, insecurity, etc, but they are still just excuses. Accepting God’s invitation on a large scale (to receive Jesus as our Savior and to grow in fellowship with Him) is the most important event in our lives; no matter how inconvenient the timing. On a day to day scale, accepting the invitation to know, hear, obey and follow God is monumental, because the risk of turning down the invitation is that He will extend it to someone more willing than us.
What I don’t want to do is heap guilt upon anyone. Please don’t take from this that if you ever have to reply “no” on an invite your excuses are lame. What I do want to drive home, is that hearing God’s voice takes effort. You have to make time, you have to take risks; you have to TRY! How sad it would be if we completed an entire Bible Study on how to discern God’s voice, and not one participant even tried to practice what is taught. Many people, would rather spend their time elsewhere, and then ask someone “more spiritual” what God is speaking or how God is guiding. God is always moving, always working, and always loving you. Take some time, TODAY, to quite yourself and listen. He invites you to have that kind of relationship with Him, but it’s up to you to respond.
For Further Study
*Do a word study in your Bible. Look up words like “invite” “listen” “guide” or others. Write down what you learn from that!
*Spend some time listening while you pray. Ask God what He would want you to do in a situation or relationship you are facing. Write down what you feel that He is saying and then act on it!
Your Assignment
*Spend some time this week listening during prayer. Share with the group what you feel God is speaking to you. This can be one word, or as long as you want, but share something!
di
posted by Di Beals | 4:30 PM
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