Wednesday Reading: Matthew 22:1-14
Key Verse: Matthew 22:8
8 Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they who were invited were not worthy.
Key Verse: Matthew 22:8
8 Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they who were invited were not worthy.
Devotion:
It is a beautiful analogy that Christ presented here to the Pharisees comparing the kingdom of heaven with a royal feast made by a king. The king has gone out of his way to present a feast that is worthy of the occasion and he wants his chosen people to be there, yet when he invites them, none of them want to come. Just like that, Christ sent out the invitation to a people who have rejected Him as well. But Christ has gone all out to present something far batter than the best feast available!
It is a beautiful analogy that Christ presented here to the Pharisees comparing the kingdom of heaven with a royal feast made by a king. The king has gone out of his way to present a feast that is worthy of the occasion and he wants his chosen people to be there, yet when he invites them, none of them want to come. Just like that, Christ sent out the invitation to a people who have rejected Him as well. But Christ has gone all out to present something far batter than the best feast available!
What He has presented is a feast that is more plentiful than the number of requested guests. His feat is laid out with enough to spare for anyone who is willing to come. But when we come to that feast, we have to make sure that we are coming for the right reason and to present ourselves in the right manner. I doubt that you would be able to attend a wedding party if you were dressed as a hobo... but there always seems to be one who is willing to push the dress code as far as they can.
Christ is the one who has control over who does get to go to heaven and He alone is the one that will ensure that only people that have accepted Him as Saviour will pass through the gates. There is no way that He will leave out any believer, no matter how bad their past was. He will make sure that they are presented faultless before God because He knows that He as already paid the price and has taken on our sins... before we even knew Him!
The reason why people will not get to heaven is not because the cannot, but because they will not. They are making the choice to reject the wedding feast of their lifetimes just to try and get that bit more out of their short lives...
Points to Ponder:
Would you accept an invitation to a royal wedding?
Have you accepted your invitation from Christ yet?
Would you accept an invitation to a royal wedding?
Have you accepted your invitation from Christ yet?