‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ -Matthew 22:9 (NASB)
A king was preparing a wedding feast for his son, and sent out his slaves to invite folks to attend, but those who were invited did not pay attention and went about their own business. Some who were invited took it upon themselves to mistreat and kill the king’s slaves. As a result, the King’s anger fell upon the murderers.
Despite the consequences, there was still a wedding feast for the son with a King waiting for attendees, therefore the King sent his slaves to ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ The slaves obeyed and amassed both evil and good folks to dine. This is a parable that was shared by our Lord Jesus in Matthew 22 who described what His kingdom of heaven may be compared to.
As I began writing about this my mind was set on how busy I have been since the death of my father and being aware that the Lord is with me and how preoccupied I have been, I asked the Lord to lead this moment for me, then my thoughts turned toward the obedient slaves who went out to share with others the invitation to the wedding feast and were ignored, mistreated, or killed as they shared the good news, then I imagined the surviving slaves going back out to gather whomever they could find to dine with the King.
I realized we can be like the obedient slaves who are called to share the good news about a wedding feast with our Lord, and find ourselves in uncomfortable situations as we share the invitation, or be like the slaves who saw many accept the King’s invitation. We can be like those who ignore the invitation to partake in this feast, or, those who accepted the invitation and allowed God to clothe them in His righteousness to join the feast.
I don’t want to be so preoccupied that I miss the opportunities before me to rejoice that there were those who obeyed the call to come and find me, and that the King Himself sent them because He wanted me to dine with Him. Nor do I want to be so busy that I’m not paying attention to my King sending me out with an invitation.
Heavenly Father, You are a loving King who invites us all to Your kingdom to dine with You, no matter where we come from. You clothe us in Your righteousness when we accept Your invitation as we are. Help us Lord whether we are the ones inviting others to join in or those who are open to receiving Your invitation. May we say, “Here I am, Lord.”
This devotion by author, Terrie Miles, is exclusively and solely shared with permission to New Beginnings Church.
Any unauthorized printed reproduction, sharing or use of this material is prohibited.
