Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”
Luke 14:15
Have you ever been invited to something over and over, until you finally gave in and accepted the invitation? Or have you found yourself as the recipient of someone’s invitation, but having never accepted the invite, do whatever it takes to avoid the inviter? Most people eventually stop asking. Inevitably, frustration takes over, and the invitations stop.
That’s how humans operate, but thankfully, Jesus isn’t like that! His invitation never ends. His invitation is open-ended, because He hates to take “no” for an answer. He will keep pursuing. He will keep showing up in the darkest moments, the lowest points in our lives. And He never stops inviting, because He knows He’s the only solution. He knows what we need more than we do. We need His grace and love. We need spiritual nourishment and life everlasting! And then we need to go to work for Him and pursue others the way He pursues us.
If you have accepted Jesus’ invitation, hooray! You have shown up to the banquet! You made it through the doors, but that’s only the beginning. The best part is the feast: the lavish treats, the generous portions, the special blessings prepared for all of His honored guests. All the prep work has already been done—it was done on a cross on Calvary! The “feast” is the joy, the delight of living with Jesus, not only for eternity, but also for today. It’s a relationship with Him that nourishes your soul. It’s where your surrendered heart that arrived empty gets filled to overflowing every day. This is a feast far more incredible than anything you could have expected or imagined. And the best part is that it never ends!
So when God sends you an invitation, say YES! And when He wants you to invite others to His life-changing, soul-filling banquet, say “ABSOLUTELY”! Because there’s always room for more!
You are loved!