Deliver the Invitations

July 2

(Luke 14:17-24 NIV) ““At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' {18} "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.' {19} "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' {20} "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.” {21} 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.' {22} "'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'  {23} "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. {24} I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.””

(Matthew 22:8-10 NIV) ““Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. {9} Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' {10} So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”

God wants His banquet hall to be full for the wedding feast of the Lamb, so He sends His servants out to invite the whole world. Most of the original guest list declined, so He invited people like us -- sinning people, poor people, hurting people, bitter people, addicted people, angry people. Christians, we are now those servants who have been sent out to invite everyone to the banquet. We do not choose who to invite -- God wrote the guest list. Even though declining God’s invitation has consequences, we are not responsible for whether or not people accept it -- we are just responsible to deliver it with love. So we would be wise to stop writing people off, and start writing invitations. God doesn’t call us to be successful -- He calls us to be faithful and persistent. Inside the banquet hall is joy and eternal life. Outside is darkness and death. Deliver the invitations! -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day