Will You Accept His Invitation Today?

The parable of the Great Banquet in the Gospel of Luke  brings back memories of my Presbyterian Sunday School and Wednesday release time instruction.   How many Bible stories I remember because we sang them! 

He replied to him,
“A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
When the time for the dinner came,
he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,
‘Come, everything is now ready.’
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.
The first said to him,
‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it;
I ask you, consider me excused.’
And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen
and am on my way to evaluate them;
I ask you, consider me excused.’
And another said, ‘I have just married a woman,
and therefore I cannot come.’
The servant went and reported this to his master.
Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant,
‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town
and bring in here the poor and the crippled,
the blind and the lame.’
The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out
and still there is room.’
The master then ordered the servant,
‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows
and make people come in that my home may be filled.
For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

What puzzles me most about this parable is that is seems that the neighbors invited initially said yes!  But, in absence of a true and intimate friendship, they really meant yes, unless....

It is so important to take time everyday to pray and to develop the capacity to know and respond to His voice.  To order my actions, my hopes, my dreams and my ambitions to Christ.  And, oh boy, did I need this reminder, because life has been craaaaazzzzzy lately (on top of everything else:  potty training …need I say more?).  Being that I am not an overly organized person this has caused major disruptions, and there is a pressure to jettison any activity that is not necessary or “productive”.  My high hopes for the day are for dry pants (that would be for Max)  and dinner on the table before bedtime, how on earth can I think of more than that!!

 It is so easy to give in to the temptation it is to push my relationship with Christ off to some abstract, distant Neverland.  But you can't just stumble into Heaven, you must be intentional in your desire to be there!  If He calls for me today, if today is my last day in this world, will my desires be ordered on the Wedding Feast of the Lamb or will they be diverted and perverted by the cares of this world?  Will He have to look elsewhere for someone to hear and respond to Him?

Here is the song…but be warned it is an ear worm, you will be humming it all day long.

(I had to update this because my whole reflection did not copy over, and while I am at it, here is what Pope Francis had to say.)