“At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ “But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’ “And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’…….For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’”” Luke 14:17-20, 24 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/luk.14.17-24.CSB
Do you understand the gospel? Do you understand that there is only one God, and He has come to this world as Jesus to die on the cross as punishment for the sins of all humanity? Do you understand that Jesus rose from the dead, proving His sacrifice was acceptable and guaranteeing His promise of eternal life to all those who love and follow Him? If so, how are you responding to this information? Are you still building your house and making your retirement better? Are you still working continuously to create a larger and more profitable company to sell in the future? Are you focused on being a good spouse and dad? All of these things, homes, work, and family, are good blessings from God, but none of them can take the place of loving Him first and most evidenced by our time and effort to know Him and to reveal Him to the world. When we receive the gospel, usually evidenced by baptism, we have died to ourselves and have risen to serve Christ as His devoted children. Loving anything or anyone more than Christ is unacceptable to Christ. Love is displayed by time and attention. If God is our first love and highest priority, then spending time with Him will be our daily habit. If God is our first love and highest priority, we will give generously of ourselves and our treasure to see His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. If God is our first love and highest priority, we will make sure our wives and children are encouraged to love Him most and first so we will not consistently miss church to play sports on Sunday with all of the pagans. Jesus will return, and we will see Him, at which time He will weigh and measure our lives by our love for Him, measured by our love for others. Will we be found wanting?
