Sit and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice." Ephesians 4:31
God's Gracious Invitation
"Come; for all things are now ready." Luke 14;17
The Bible is a book of invitations; in it the word "come" is used over thirty-five hundred times! One such passage is found in Luke 14 where Jesus tells of a great feast prepared by a generous host. It was free, and more than ample to feed the many who had been invited. The excuses that were made for not partaking were poor and insufficient. Especially is this true when one understands the oriental customs of that day. In the East, when a man planned to have a banquet, he first sent out invitations and when everyone had agreed to come, he prepared the feast accordingly. Then at the proper hour he would send forth a servant to say, "All things are now ready; come to the supper!" To refuse to attend at the last moment, therefore, was a real insult to the host, and worthy of the highest condemnation. Jesus was pointing out that Israel was guilty of this terrible sin.
There was once a man who was under deep conviction but who could not grasp the truth that the Gospel invitation was meant for him. His employer, an earnest Christian man, wrote him a note asking him to come to his office. He obeyed the summons but was met with the question, "Do you wish to see me, James?" The man held up the note saying, "But sir, you sent for me!" "Oh," said the other, "you believed that I wanted to see you just because I told you to come?" "Yes!" "You thought I expected you to accept my invitation promptly?" "Certainly, sir," answered the man. "Well," said the Christian, "God has bidden you to come and He too means for you to do it at once! Why then do you hesitate?" The man's lips quivered and the tears ran down his cheeks. He said brokenly, "Am I just to believe God's Word in the same way that I believed your note?" "Just in the same way," replied the employer. "For 'if you receive the witness of me, the witness of God is greater.'"
Today the Gospel feast is still spread, and the gracious invitation is directed to you - "Come; for all things are now ready."
"Bread For Each Day"
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