Word@Work Luke234 - Luke 14:18-21
Published: Mon, 11/15/10
Word@Work from BeaconLight
EXCUSES
Luke 14:18-21 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' "Still another said, 'I have just got married, so I can't come.' "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' (NIV)
Jesus was telling the parable of a generous man who was preparing a banquet for his friends. When the time came for the feast to begin, servants were sent to inform all those who had been invited. However, they made excuses and rejected the possibility of being included. It was in just the same way that Jesus came for His own (John 1:11), but they did not welcome Him ... and excluded themselves from all the blessing He would have brought to them.
In the parable, Jesus says that the excuses produced anger in the generous man, to the extent that the invited guests were no longer welcome; and so the poor and despised people were urged to come instead. Jesus meant the Gentiles - all those whom the favoured Israelites had detested for generations.
Excuses are still a convenient way of saying "No". By placing business or family before the claims of Jesus Christ, many people think that their rejection of the King's command is somehow acceptable. It is not! Whoever Jesus calls has the responsibility to respond to the invitation. To accept, is to enter into God's blessing; to refuse, is to incur God's wrath. So excuses (which are always self-centred ways of avoiding the responsibility of saying, "Yes" to Jesus) have no validity. We cannot give a higher priority to personal preferences, our work or our relationships, than to the Lord. So, in Mary's words, "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)!
Prayer: Father God. Thank You for being so generous, but please forgive me for being so slow to respond and so quick to place my own interests before Yours. Please help me to understand that what You say has absolute priority over everything, and give me the courage to set aside my own agenda in order to fulfil Yours. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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Jesus was telling the parable of a generous man who was preparing a banquet for his friends. When the time came for the feast to begin, servants were sent to inform all those who had been invited. However, they made excuses and rejected the possibility of being included. It was in just the same way that Jesus came for His own (John 1:11), but they did not welcome Him ... and excluded themselves from all the blessing He would have brought to them.
In the parable, Jesus says that the excuses produced anger in the generous man, to the extent that the invited guests were no longer welcome; and so the poor and despised people were urged to come instead. Jesus meant the Gentiles - all those whom the favoured Israelites had detested for generations.
Excuses are still a convenient way of saying "No". By placing business or family before the claims of Jesus Christ, many people think that their rejection of the King's command is somehow acceptable. It is not! Whoever Jesus calls has the responsibility to respond to the invitation. To accept, is to enter into God's blessing; to refuse, is to incur God's wrath. So excuses (which are always self-centred ways of avoiding the responsibility of saying, "Yes" to Jesus) have no validity. We cannot give a higher priority to personal preferences, our work or our relationships, than to the Lord. So, in Mary's words, "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)!
Prayer: Father God. Thank You for being so generous, but please forgive me for being so slow to respond and so quick to place my own interests before Yours. Please help me to understand that what You say has absolute priority over everything, and give me the courage to set aside my own agenda in order to fulfil Yours. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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