It is Monday…

So you went through another week and are back at Monday. Nothing extraordinary happened this last week or maybe there were life changing events. None-the-less, you are back at Monday, ready or not to start the next seven day chapter of your life.

powerful statements

At church this weekend, there was a glimpse of some scripture that caught my eye and I turned to my husband and said, “well that is powerful.” No more was said, I continued to sing my heart out, tears streaming down my face and my hands awaiting to be filled with God’s healing touch.

A long week I had. Period. It was the biggest roller coaster ride of my life thus far. I was reflecting yesterday at church, while the tears fell onto the ground where I stood. Thoughts about how good God is; and how He makes every screw up I have done, turn into something beautiful (eventually).

my brain doesn’t remember verses

Without getting into the nitty gritty of the pain or pleasures I dealt with this past week, the scripture that was “so powerful”, didn’t leave me. I sat this morning, thinking if I could remember all the words. There was no way I could recite where it was found in the bible; my brain doesn’t have room anymore. So, I went to bible hub online and typed in the few words I did remember.

“I was too busy”, I first typed. Nope, that didn’t come up with any scripture. “I had to work”, nope that didn’t work either. Then I typed “Got married and couldn’t gather”. Boom, there was the passages. It was Matthew 22: 1-14, the parable of the banquet.

everyone makes excuses

So, without hesitation I read it with a sponge-like attitude. I knew it was powerful in church yesterday and I wanted to know why it was so important to me. There it was in the beginning of the passage, I could relate. When it was time for the banquet… one after another all of the guests he invited started making excuses!

First off, I didn’t relate it to going to church or being saved; I thought of all the times I have had a desire to invite so many people to a gathering and one by one, excuses come. It is painful, for me. Some people shrug things like this off, but not me. I am about inclusion, fairness and having people make excuses to not come to my event feels sad to me; like they are missing out and they don’t even know it!

to gather or not; to accept rest or not; to believe or not.

Okay, I am digressing. The point to the rest of the ‘powerful’ message came when Jesus explained why people were not choosing the banquet. By the way if you have not realized already, Jesus is saying this parable as an illustration to people not gathering, accepting the kingdom of God and His saving grace.

The first excuse was one so many people use today when they say they don’t have time to nurture their relationship with God. “I have bought a field, and I need to go see it, please excuse me.” Well, we are a farming community and how many times have we said “go make hay while the sun is shining”. This scripture resonated with me and our farm life. We have skipped out on church, the sabbath rest and prayer many times to ‘get into the field’. (BTW this is not what my father-in-law taught my husband, we are first generation sabbath-skippers).

work, new things, sports

Then we have the second excuse, “I have bought five yoke of Oxen, and I am going to go try them out, please excuse me.” Has anyone else, had an exciting new toy, lake property, event, kids baseball or hockey game or anything really distracting to every-day life? YES! We all have. It seems like these take priority over our sabbaths, our scripture and for sure our church time.

on your honeymoon?

Now onto the last one, I found it really interesting. I tried hard to figure out the metaphor here but really I related it to “distraction” again. ” I have married a wife, so I cannot come.” Please, are you on your honeymoon? Or maybe you are so distracted by her beauty you just can’t get out of bed? Anyways, my point is here his new marriage is getting in the way of his relationship with God.

God wants His house to be full

But what was so impressive to me was what Jesus said next, he told his servant to invite the poor, the cripple and the lame to his kingdom banquet. He told the people from the lowest of the low places to come. They came. Jesus then said “…so that my house will be full”. He was saying that the lowly person will attend the kingdom far faster and with more will than the above mentioned ‘distracted’ persons.

His last line in this parable almost killed me though.

“FOR I TELL YOU, NOT ONE OF THOSE MEN WHO WERE INVITED WILL TASTE MY BANQUET”.

distracted but the Bible is Truth

This means all of us distracted idiots! Sorry if that language offends people but this is JESUS telling us the TRUTH. Do you believe the Bible is a lie or true? Well, if you think some of it is a lie, then carry-forward and continue your life the way it is. If you believe the whole Bible to be Truth, then we all have to hear what Jesus is saying.

If you are invited to know Him. If you are part of this beautiful invitation to the banquet of all time and you choose to turn away, with excuses… you will not taste the kingdom of God, aka. The Banquet.

plug in? rest. keep your day holy.

Get to the banquet! Plug into your local church, turn off the hype and the sports, take the ten commandments seriously and REST on the SABBATH and keep it HOLY. Guys, its ONE DAY a week. 52 days a year of rest that God gave you to stop working, stop the distractions and He commanded us to make a day for “This is a sign between me and you for generations to come, so you may know that I am God, who makes you holy.” Exodus 31.

thankful for sabbath rest

This was powerful to me. After my week I had, I thanked God in church with the tears streaming down my face. I thanked Him for my sabbath rest. He knows best, He knows what we need and His banquet I won’t excuse myself from.