WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?

Do you like receiving invitations from friends and loved ones, asking for your special presence in the important events of their lives? Doesn't it feel good that someone actually remembers?

How would you feel if you receive an invitation card which says, "Dear Mr./Ms. so and so, you are cordially invited to a banquet of a lifetime!"

Luke 14:15-24 tells us the parable of the great banquet. Jesus narrated this parable after one of those at the table with him said, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." The story moves from the real feast where Jesus was to this great parable about yielding to the the Lord's offer of feast to those who were invited.

The story starts with a man preparing a great banquet. However, as the celebration was about to begin, those who were invited made their excuses. One of them excused himself for he had to visit the land he just bought (v.18). Another turned down the invitation at the last minute because he needed to try his newly bought five yoke and oxen (v.19). Finally, a man who "just got married" said his ultimate excuse (v.20).

However, those excuses were an insult to the host of the banquet. Their justifications and alibis made the banquet's host angry. Yet, their absence did not stop him from inviting the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame and all others. He was insulted, still and all, he made sure that his feast will commence regardless of their responses.

What this parable teaches us is that we should never make excuses before the Lord. We should yield to his invitation WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME. We need to realize that our excuses won't lead us to experience the great banquet that Christ has prepared for us. Our excuses won't keep him from inviting others, those who feel the need and who are more than willing to feast with him.

Remember that our excuses won't keep Christ from commencing his banquet becaue he will not wait until we are ready. He won't wait till we are done with our chores in the midst of the busyness of our lives. Excuses all boil down to our P-R-I-O-R--I-T-Y. Let us then stop making excuses before the Lord and let us yield to the invitation of God while there is still time. Salvation is here, salvation is now! The Apostle Paul in In 2 Corinthians 6:2 said...

SO NOW, WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE???