11/4/2023 0 Comments I married a lame oThat means prioritizing God over otherwise good work. Your excuses sound legitimate to you, but it’s not the invitation that saves. This excuse sounds legitimate at first because you have this excuse too: “I can’t come to church on Sundays or homegroup during the week because my gym partner can only make Tuesday nights, I have a work commitment every Wednesday, my kid’s play practice is on Thursday, and my pottery class on Friday, and of course Sunday is the only day we have as a family to visit the grandparents.” He has been caught in the middle of a hectic work day and is on a tight schedule. This gentleman, in contrast, has real business to attend to. Luke 14:19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Sometimes that means leaving your land and possessions behind you. When your possessions become God’s rival for your heart’s affections, you’re in a danger zone. Oh, how pitiful it is to choose a few grubby bucks and the stuff it can buy… over Jesus. When humans want material possessions more than an eternal relationship with God-to Jesus-that is exactly like saying “No thanks for the free, lavish, enjoyable banquet at your expense, I’d rather go check out some dirt.” It’s lame and insulting.īut this is how Jesus views people who reject the offer of salvation because of stuff. This is the “ I have to wash my hair” excuse. But this excuse is a façade for the ugly truth that he doesn’t want to attend the banquet. He doesn’t need to skip the banquet to view the field. His reason? … ‘ I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it.’ It is at this point that the first guest decides he’s not coming anymore. So the guests were pre-invited and when everything was ready, they were summoned to the feast. It would take an army of servants to pull it off. Since there was no refrigeration in those days, all the sheep, goats, and cows would have to be killed and cooked on the day of the feast. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. 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. Luke 14:16-18 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. After one of Jesus’ lunch companions gives a great toast, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Jesus responds with a disturbing parable.ģ Lame Excuses To Avoid So That You R SVP Rightly To God’s Invitation In Luke 14 Jesus discusses the excuses that keep people out of the Kingdom of God. If you do, nothing will stand in your way.Īnd the same can be said for spiritual commitment… The truth is, if you don’t want to date the guy, nothing he does will change that. Of course, if she did like the guy, or wanted to give him a chance at impressing her (something I encouraged), she would overcome the inconveniences. “If you were the last male on earth, I’d assume that meant God wanted me to be single for the rest of my life so the human species would die out.” If that still didn’t work, then there was a last resort. If he asks to just hang out as friends? Then the lady should say, “ I’m afraid that if I spent time with you alone then the person God has for me might think I’m with you.” I have fickle preferences that I don’t always understand nor should I always need to explain. So, I supplied the ladies in our ministry with a script to spare everyone a lot of confusion: “ I do want to get married in God’s timing, but I’m not afraid of being single. Of course, when the popular guy asks the same girl out, she drops everything, clears her schedule, and moves heaven and earth to date him! No matter what excuse the young lady proffers, the desperate guy always spots a glimmer of (false) hope. He: “ Please change your schedule to be in all my classes, join all my study groups, and show up at all the ministry events where I serve-like a stalker-so we can be together more.” She: “ I’m really busy with studies and ministry right now.” He: “ Let’s date without the pressure of marriage.” She: “ I’m not looking for a long-term relationship right now.” He’d hear: “ I’ll marry you the day I graduate.” She’d say: “ I’m just focusing on my studies.” But those excuses were not always effective. Some nice girls didn’t want to hurt their would-be suitors, so they’d concoct some sort of “ it’s not you, it’s me” excuse. College is a stage in life where people are old enough to marry, so dating is fraught with pressure and implications. While in seminary I served in a college ministry of about 1,000 young people, many of whom were on the lookout for a spouse.
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