Daily Worship

Belonging to The Kingdom

Fiona Campbell October 19, 2014 0 0

Luke 14:16-24

A man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”

Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.     When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’    But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’   Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’     Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’

“The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’    After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’    So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.    For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”

Lord, this week I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about you being pro-active.
Thank you for showing me how often you come to invite people like me to know you and to enjoy belonging to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Help me to be aware of the opportunities I have in life, to do a good thing, a right thing or a self-less thing, and give me the confidence and strength to choose your way.   
I’m ashamed of the times I’ve ignored or rejected your invitation to friendship.  
Forgive me for the wasted moments, the help withheld from others, the desire to please myself which made me thoughtless.
Is it possible I have even failed to notice gifts and blessings from you, because I was too preoccupied ? 
I recognise, Lord, that I’m not alone in making bad choices sometimes, and I pray for friends and people in my family by name . . . . . who have rejected your invitations.   
Please help me be aware of others, and you, in the way I behave each day, by the choices I make in life,
teach me to show the joy and goodness of belonging to you.  
Inspire me to carry your invitation far and wide, to fill the seats at the Great Feast !