Fluent at Excuses

 

“And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.'”  Luke 14:17-18 (ESV) We are often "busy" now and will get to what needs doing soon, yet soon seems never to happen. When I mentor young men, I usually stress the idea of making a plan for your "plan" so that you will implement that about which you have been talking. To tell a friend that you need to get together someday and not pick a day means that you will not get together. To speak with a friend about getting together real soon to have dinner means you will not get together for dinner unless you set a date. There is no reason to put off following God. There is no reason for us to wait until tomorrow to implement something we know needs implementation, because tomorrow is one thing of which we have no assurance. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to respond to God if He speaks to your heart. Today is the day to make the changes in your human relationships if you see they need changing, and today is the day to schedule those appointments with God and others. Those who fail are fluent at excuses.

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Reflectors

 "He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  Luke 14:12-15 (ESV)

We are often caught in the rip current of self-promotion. We habitually help others because, somehow, it helps us. We put on elaborate dinners, banquets, and parties so that others think well of us. We give, so that others think of us as generous.

The deception is subtle and powerful, and easily fueled by the endless opportunities to prove to our neighbors that we are who we claim to be.

The healthy help and regularly include those who cannot pay them back, who may not appreciate them. Their motive is love, their vehicle is service, and their reward is from God.

Those who genuinely care for others reflect God, which is the greatest privilege man can afford.

One day God will declare our status,

Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  Luke 14:7-11 (ESV)

When playing sports in college, I realized that I did not need to tell our coach how good I was. Somehow he knew how I played, and because of that, he was relatively uninterested in me informing him of my value to the team.

It is normal for us to make ourselves the most valuable player, and it is hard to realize that life would go on just fine without me if I disappeared today.

One day God will declare our status, and He will not lie. It is that day we focus on while living today.

Jesus ignored them.

 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?" And they could not reply to these things.  Luke 14:1-6 (ESV)

Those who seek the truth do not set traps. The Pharisees were observing Jesus for a reason. They wanted to catch Him breaking their religious law. It is people who changed the principle of the Sabbath to a measurable method because they ran from the principle. They constantly found situations that needed clarification and ended up with lists of rules that probably equaled our tax code and were equally complex.

It would be like playing a table game in my home in which I would continually change the "house rules" to ensure that I win. (Wild example, I know....) This, however, is a game that nobody but the Pharisees could win.

Jesus ignored them, as He should have, and as all should have, and lived out the principle of the Sabbath.

Principles are sacred. Methods are not. The wise know the difference.

Faith Rest

“Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"  Luke 13:33-35 (ESV) Those who speak the truth are never welcome in places where truth is not welcome. Man constantly struggles with the idea of hating the person who carries a message they do not like, rather than just disagreeing with the statement. Perhaps this is because truthful messages do not have opinions attached to them and are often presented in a way that forces a person to either repent or run. If we repent, we need to admit our mistake. If we run, we can ignore our mistakes until we can run no more. Those who continually run are continually tired, for there is no rest for the wicked, as true rest comes only in the Lord. The faith-rest life is indeed a byproduct of those who have faith in God and rest in Him. For now, the choice is ours....Rest or run.

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Hate: Without Cause

 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.  Luke 13:31-32 (ESV)

Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost. He healed the sick, gave hope to the hopeless, died for the sins of all, and conquered death by rising from the dead three days after He gave up His life on the cross.

Yet today, as then, some people hate Him or despise Him. One must wonder why?

He was a threat to those who consciously or subconsciously wanted to be God themselves. He was upsetting to those who thought they were in control, destroyed a man-centered religious system, and allowed "nobody" to be "somebody."

He exposed the sin in man's heart, defeated the prince of this world's power, fed the multitudes, raised the dead, calmed the storms, and even produced the needed tax money from the mouth of a fish.

Those who hated Jesus did so without cause. One day, they and all who rejected Him will wish they had not. That day is coming quickly. Perhaps, for now, there is still time to make the right choices.

Rewards for the faithful

 

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.  Luke 13:28-30 (ESV) God rewards those who listen to Him. Those who chose to ignore Him, for any reason, at any time in their lives, will regret that decision. Every person has a choice. We can choose to know Christ and make Him known, or we can choose to ignore God and make ourselves known. Those who live for momentary glory have received their recognition. Many think that those who experience the weeping and gnashing of teeth will be the unbelievers, yet these people, who miss out, seem to be in a place where they can watch the celebration from afar. Christ secures our position; our rewards are dependent upon our faithfulness. Rewards for children of God will differ, and it will matter. This is a challenging idea to grasp for those who want to believe that their faithfulness to God is inconsequential, and for years have somehow come to think that all things will be equal in eternity. If there are rewards for the faithful, then there will be a lack of rewards for the unfaithful. This is a simple premise that now we might not completely understand, but will be evident when the time comes. We need to choose to live now so that then we will have no regrets.

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