I have been guilty
for making up excuses why I don’t want to attend a party, wedding, baby shower,
or even a funeral. With the exception of the funeral, other times I know I
would have had a happy time but for whatever reason, I just did not want to go
to any event. Of course, most times I had my legitimate reasons, but I just
could not get myself to attend. Well, as you may have been reading, all of
humanity has been invited to the Royal Wedding. This is great news! For this
wedding/banquet however, no one should decline attending because whether you
are aware of this or not, for this wedding, you will be forced to be a spectator
or be a willing participant.Let us read a bit
more from the Bible to see why it may behoove us not to decline such an
invitation from our Beloved Christ Jesus.
The Parable of the Great Banquet Luke 14: 15-24
When one of those at the table
with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the
feast in the kingdom of God.” 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 out 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 compel them to come in, so that my house will be
full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will
get a taste of my banquet.’”
Christ has for
centuries upon centuries been inviting all of humanity to be prepared for the
banquet but most have been declining his invitations because thus far, Christ
has not come yet. As the parable of the 10 Virgins, we are to be like the wise
five who were prepared. Declining is an option, it is part of our
free will and so is accepting the invitation. If you have been abused, hurt,
neglected and so on and so forth, you may think that God does not care…but He
does. You have free will to do what you want to do but know this, at the end of
the day, it is Christ Jesus who will stand and say welcome home or say I know
you not.
Christ knows your pain and if it is your pain
that is keeping you from saying yes, then I ask you to ask the Holy Spirit to
work in and through you. Don’t give up your opportunity to enjoy a banquet that
will fill your life and quench your thirst. This is a banquet where you know
that you will never shed another tear again and if you do, they will be tears
of joy. So, please don’t say no to the banquet.
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