Wednesday, April 23, 2008
was reading the parable of the wedding banquet this morning,
and cant help but amazed by how wise Jesus was,
and how appropriately the parable was used to describe the kingdom of heaven.


first thing that struck me was that God is so generous in extending His invitation to us,
to enter His kingdom.
those wierd promptings and stirring of the heart,
was God poking and whispering into our soul,
even when we shut Him off,
He's always at the door of our hearts,
knocking, knocking.

and then i realized,
people refused to go for the wedding banquet
because they had their own agendas.
just like how we all have our own plans,
our own ambitions,
and things we choose to pack our time with,
till we have no time for God,
oblivious to the fact that we're missing out on the greatest things ever.

"whats the use of climbing the ladder of success,
only to find that it's leaning against the wrong building?"-James Dobson

and moreover,
when we attend weddings,
we got to bring gifts.
so similarly,
entering God's kingdom would require us to offer our finance,
our time,
our efforts.
we've got something to give,
before receiving from Him what's multiple times better than what we offered.

and of course,
when we've rejected God many many times,
we forsake God's grace,
and God will look for people whose hearts are soft,
and would look at the invitation with gratitude.
which reminds me

"those who have tasted the goodness of God,
and yet take the word of God lightly,
will be easily abandoned by God."

we're the one who really need Him.
so so badly.

wedding clothes are provided by the host,
they are a must for those attending the wedding.
those who refuse to put in on
may be too prideful
and thought they did not need them.
the clothes represent God's righteousness
that we must choose to be clothed in.
receiving salvation must come with obedience of the word
in the later stage.

God,
help me not to take your salvation for granted,
help me to believe with faith
that the wedding banquet would be so gorgeous,
and with great things to offer,
that i'll never regret forsaking my own agenda
to enter it.
help me,
to never reject any invitation
and always view it as such a great privilege,
help me to never look out to the door
and be envious of what people are doing outside.
they are the ones truly missing out.
and perhaps,
if im focused and concentrate on the banquet,
i wont even be distracted by the things outside.

help me,
to also see the greatness of the banquet
and then together with the host,
invite people in,
to see the greatness of it,
help them to put on the wedding clothes,
and lead them to be the chosen one as well.

v14:"for many are invited,
few are chosen."
I want to be chosen.

if the desert of sin in exodus was a place You test and shape the character of Your people,
i pray you'll never forget to bring me there.

Soared at 4/23/2008 12:43:00 AM