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The Privilege of an Invitation - Luke 14:15-24
One of the men sitting at the table with Jesus heard these things. The man said to Jesus, "What a great blessing it will be for a person to eat a meal in God's kingdom!" Jesus said to him, "A man gave a big dinner. The man invited many people. When it was time to eat, the man sent his servant to tell the guests, 'Come! The food is ready!' But all the guests said they could not come. Each man made an excuse. The first man said, 'I have just bought a field, so I must go look at it. Please excuse me.' Another man said, 'I have just bought five pairs of work animals; I must go and try them. Please excuse me.' A third man said, 'I just got married; I can't come.' So the servant returned. He told his master what had happened. Then the master became angry and said, 'Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor people, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.' Later the servant said to him, 'Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.' The master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full! None of those people that I invited first will ever eat with me!'" (ERV) Full Text Key Thought Freedom and democracy are great gifts that many of us take for granted. The price paid to provide these blessings has been high. So often, we approach our freedom with a sense of entitlement -- I deserve this, I am owed this, this is my right, etc. To be invited to be a recipient of God's salvation and all that it entails is a gift from God's mercy and grace, not something that we are owed. To spurn God's grace, to put off our complete response to his invitation of salvation, is to invite disaster and to insult the One who paid such a high price to give us this opportunity. If you have been putting off your total surrender to Christ as Lord, please ... listen to God's invitation and respond ... today! Today's Prayer NEW: Get Phil's What Jesus Did devotional in a paperback book. Click here to find out more! One of the men sitting at the table with Jesus heard these things. The man said to Jesus, "What a great blessing it will be for a person to eat a meal in God's kingdom!" Jesus said to him, "A man gave a big dinner. The man invited many people. When it was time to eat, the man sent his servant to tell the guests, 'Come! The food is ready!' But all the guests said they could not come. Each man made an excuse. The first man said, 'I have just bought a field, so I must go look at it. Please excuse me.' Another man said, 'I have just bought five pairs of work animals; I must go and try them. Please excuse me.' A third man said, 'I just got married; I can't come.' So the servant returned. He told his master what had happened. Then the master became angry and said, 'Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor people, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.' Later the servant said to him, 'Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.' The master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full! None of those people that I invited first will ever eat with me!'" — Luke 14:15-24 (ERV)
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