"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.’" Luke 14:18-20
Beloved, God has prepared a banquet of life that defies description and exceeds imagination. He has made it available out of his great love for his children. It is not just a banquet of the most amazing food and drink imaginable, but of fellowship, peace, joy, serenity and the everlasting presence of himself! It is not possible to exceed what God has for us. He has prepared it and taken care of all of its cost through the sacrifice of his only begotten, Jesus.
Why then do we do all we can to avoid it? What possible excuses can we offer for refusing such an offer. One excuse is that we allow our possessions to hinder us. We become so involved in that which God has blessed us with, we lose sight of not only the source of those blessings but the fact that there is so much more available. Work and money are also on the list. We are so involved in the pursuit of wealth, material gain, position and power, we forget that we are the children of the Creator. There is no higher stature. Finally, relationships and sex improperly used can be lethal to our spiritual lives. God has given generous parameters for each, yet we find ways and reasons to go beyond what is sanctioned, thereby taking a rebellious stance before the Lord.
We must be aware of these pitfalls. Short sight can result in a long fall. God freely offers that which we are unable to obtain ourselves, however, an offer refused will ultimately be an offer withdrawn. There are too many that see the value of a relationship with God for his goodness to go squandered. The invitation has been extended. Accept it daily.
Rejoicing in the Lord,
Lee
No comments:
Post a Comment