An Invitation Rejected

The Lord Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is like a great supper, to which God invites many to participate. The hour is near, everything is prepared. However, the diners do not appear, although they had been invited in advance.

They gave various reasons for not going. One had purchased a hacienda and needed to go see it. Another had bought several yoke of oxen and needed to try them out. A third had married, and needed to devote himself to his wife. No doubt these excuses were valid. They were part of the normal business of the men, which it was only fair to attend to.

Yes, all that is valid, but not for God. When it comes to who is inviting and the reason for the invitation, excuses are unacceptable. The God Creator of the heavens and the earth, the King who rules over all, is He to be despised?

Such excuses have one thing in common: they seek only self-satisfaction. Those men have acquired something they hold dear and are unwilling to go. Their possessions may have a high price; yet in the light of eternity what is its real value? It is not wrong to have goods; but it is wrong to reject God because of those goods.

But see what God does. When the invitation is rejected, he replaces those invited with others. He will not fail to celebrate the supper that he has prepared with such dedication. Therefore, he sends for all kinds of people, less distinguished, but more willing. So the unemployed, the vagabonds, the outcasts of society arrive. They are introduced to the supper, until the house is full. How much grace! How much goodness of God for us!

Accept this invitation yourself. Receive Christ into your heart as your Lord and Savior, and you will become part of the family of God.

"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:9).

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