Come Unto Him – October 06, 2002
In every age to every people, God opens His arms to His children. With all the love of a tender parent, He invites us to come unto Him. But He never forces or manipulates. He respects our agency and allows us to choose whether or not to receive His offering and feel His love.
In the parable of the great supper, Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a delicious dinner that has been carefully and lovingly prepared. When all is ready, the master sends his servant to gather the invited guests, but each is too preoccupied to attend. “They all [begin] to make excuse[s].” One says that he has just bought “a piece of ground” and needs to oversee it. Another is busy with his “five yoke of oxen.” And the third has recently been married and wants to stay close to home. They have just been offered the feast of feasts—bounteous servings of love, peace, and joy are on the table—but all who have been invited are too encumbered by the cares of the world to even taste the heavenly offerings.
Upon hearing this report, the master quickly sends his servant out to “the streets and lanes,” the “highways and hedges” to invite the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind to eat the food, still steamy hot and uneaten on the table. These meek and humble people gratefully respond to the invitation and enter the kingdom of God.1
Oftentimes, what keeps us from God are many of the “good” things He has given us: the land, the oxen, the relationships that can consume our time and prevent quiet reflection or personal worship. Hopefully, the ease and security of such good things will not distract us from that which matters most, from feeling the need to seek God and respond to His invitation to everlasting life. The Lord’s promise is certain. He is “gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.”2
Program #3816
1. See Luke 14:15–24.
2. 2 Chronicles 30:9.