LUKE 14:23

Then the master told his servant, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.”

TO PONDER

Jesus often compared our new life as His brothers and sisters to a lavish banquet or a wedding feast. I think it would be safe to say that none of us would reject an invitation to such a celebration unless we had a very good excuse. But in the parable that Jesus told, the excuses people gave were very flimsy. So this challenged me to think about the excuses I use to NOT get involved in the things God might be inviting me to. A good initial excuse is that it wasn’t a specific invitation, but just a notification that volunteers were needed.  The excuse I use a lot is that the invitation involves interacting with people and I am an introvert and find it hard to start conversations with people I don’t know.

What I am forgetting is that God has promised to be with us in whatever he has called us to do. We are not going on our own. (However, we can try to go alone if we want to ignore God’s presence with us and this will often lead to negative experiences that then make us afraid to respond to God’s call in the future.)

God has made me the person I am, and has placed me where I am for specific activities that he is calling me to do. Who am I to tell God that he has got it wrong and that he has not given me the skills and abilities to do what he has called me to do.

Many years ago I was asked to be a chaplain at a church conference. Part way through the conference, a pastor who I knew came into the chapel area and casually sat down beside me and we just started talking. I felt relaxed because I thought he was there in some minor oversight capacity. After he left, the though suddenly hit me that he had come in to see one of the chaplains to deal with an issue which was bothering him. If I had realised that he was visiting me in my role as chaplain, I am sure I would have been more concerned in how I was doing, rather than being the listening ear he needed at the time.

I love the way God sneaks up on us and achieves his purposes through us without us fully understanding what he was doing (until maybe later).

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us all the resources we need to do what you ask us to do and to go where you call us to go.  Achieve your purpose and glorify your name through me today. Amen

Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping