Post by: Samantha Ho
To the Servant:
Would you have been a weary servant that evening? Would you have labored all day to prepare for a feast that would last all night? There is a great banquet with the King.
Would you have been eager and excited to see the guests delighted at the invitation to come in? Come dine in the kingdom. "Come; for everything is ready now."
Would you feel the small sting of disappointment when the first man said he just bought some land and must tend to it? Or when the second man bought upgrades for his oxen, so working on his business was the only option. Would you have grown weary when another brought up his new marriage and you could tell this was the thing he now most cherished? Would you have grown bitter towards the excuses, the dismissals, the rejections? Would you have shared in the King's anger and frustrations?
Would you then be confused when the King commands you to find the weak and the poor? The lame, the blind, the unadored? Would you have looked out at the table, amazed at how many were unable to be dining with the King? Empty seats to be filled by the outcasts near the hills, at the edge of the city where the people didn't look very pretty. The house is to be filled, and to be filled with those who are thrilled to be dining with the King.
Today’s Invitation
I would grow weary. Patiently listening to the stories of new homes, thriving businesses, and the promises of new marriages as if they had not heard. Or perhaps they had forgotten in the midst of the distractions. This is not just some party. They are being invited to dine with the King. To come into His Kingdom.
I admit. I have been distracted. I have grown weary.
What good is it, what satisfaction can we experience, to own a house and build a successful career and marry well and travel to the most exotic parts of the earth if we cannot have a taste of the feast? The world's invitation looks like land, and riches, and marriage, and pleasures. And in our pursuits, we will forget we had an invitation to dine and feast and be full with so much more than just land, and riches, and marriage, and pleasures. We must recognize, that although these things in of themselves are not bad (they are good!), we have an invitation for something far greater. We must be able to look at what is in front of us and leave the good things to choose the greatest thing. "For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner."
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene (2 Timothy 2:15-17 NASB)
The Kingdom will be filled with those who are thrilled to be dining with the King.
Let’s choose to dine with Him. To feast in His Kingdom. Let’s choose to talk with Him, to talk about Him, to join in with the few who reject the world’s invitation and instead, to fill the house and cherish Him. Let us choose to dine with the King.
When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” (Luke 14:15-24 ESV)As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. (2 Thessalonians 3:13 NASB)
Sam is a lover of Jesus. Running off of Taco Bell, Sam loves to spend her time savoring the intricacies of life with others, immersing herself in words, art, and plenty of good food. She has witnessed the strengths and weaknesses of the Asian American church, and has a heart to help build up this generation to be strong in faith and equipped to speak with Truth and Grace. Her aim is to encourage others to love and cherish Christ even more.