“Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
“Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’” (Luke 14:15-20) And the first portion of the next verse says, “So that servant came and reported these things to his master.”
Imagine this scene if you would. A great supper had been prepared…all of the guests had been invited…and finally the day arrived when all those in attendance would come together to rejoice and feast together. Now if you notice, we are not told here what the reason for the celebration was…but apparently it was a very big party. It sounds as though MANY people had been invited…and the Master had everything prepared and ready for a great celebration. And so he sent his servants to tell all the invited guest that the banquet was ready…they could come and celebrate with the Master.
You would think this would be a time of great joy…a time of feasting and all the invited guests would be so excited to attend this great celebration. But as we read the story, we find that was not the case at all. No…in fact it was just the opposite! One by one, each of the invited guests began to make excuses why they could not attend this great feast…and that is exactly where I want to camp out for a few minutes with you if I may…I want to ask you this very important question…. “What Excuse Will You Give?”
We see that the servants went to each invited guest…and one by one they began to hear the excuses that were given…the first one had some material possessions that were more valuable to him than spending time and celebrating with the Master…the second guest had a business venture that warranted his time and energy, so he too begged to be excused…and that third invited guest had some kind of family issue going on that was more important to him than to attend the Master’s banquet…and so one by one they each gave excuses why they could not come and spend time with the Master.
Friends…we can all have every excuse in the world, but I want to tell you, there is nothing in your life that is more important than for you to give your full attention to the Lord. He is the "Bread of Life" and the "Living Water" that you need to sustain your spiritual well-being. He has invited you to His Banquet Table every single day. He wants you to come and dine with Him…He wants to spend time with you. There is nothing in your life that should keep you from attending Your Master’s Great Banquet. The time you spend with Him is the most valuable time in your life and nothing you can do will benefit you as much as that time you devote to God.
I want to share with you 3 important simple steps you can do to take full advantage of your special time with the Lord:
1. First of all, you need to set aside specific time to spend with the Lord every day. Matthew chapter 6 and the first part of verse 6 says, “But you, when you pray…” Jesus is assuming that you are going to spend time in prayer every single day. You must make time for God…that means you must shut off your phone, you must turn off your TV, you must dedicate a specific and definite time alone with God every day. This is very important.
2. Secondly, you must get alone with God. The next part of that scripture says, “…go into your room, and when you have shut your door” It’s a good idea to have a specific place that you intend to meet with God…some people call this their “prayer closet”. It can be any place where you can go and spend some quiet time alone with God. It needs to be away from family and friends and noisy distractions. You need to put your whole attention on God and God alone.
3. And the third thing I would tell you is to talk to God about everything in your heart. The last part of that scripture says, “…pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Friends, God knows your heart intimately. He wants you to talk to Him about all those things that are going on in your life…He wants you to talk to Him about the deepest longings and concerns of your heart. God wants to have a daily and ongoing conversation with you. And when you have run out of things to talk about…then listen… because He also wants to talk to you. Take your Bible and spend time reading His Word, seek Him diligently in that secret place and He will reveal Himself to you like you have never experienced before.
Now all those invited guests made all kinds of worldly excuses why they couldn’t give the Master any time in their busy lives…but there is nothing this world has to offer that is more important than to spend time with Your Master. There is no material possessions, no business venture and no family issues that should keep you from meeting with the Master of your soul each and every day. Just set aside that specific time every day…take your Bible and go to your secret place of prayer…and share with your Father all your heart. He is the only one that will keep you pointed in the right direction and He will make you more and more like Jesus every day. Just do it.
Prayer…
Father, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, I come to You and I confess to You Lord that I have not been as faithful as I need to be in my times of prayer. I have not sought You diligently with my whole heart the way I know that I need to do. Father...please remind me as I go through my day. Draw me by Your Holy Spirit so that I will become more committed to the most important activity I can do for my own life and for those that I am interceding for. Help me to put my relationship with YOU as my Number 1 priority...and help me to include You in every area of my life. I love You Father and I want to do better in building this relationship with You. Thank You Father...in Jesus Name...Amen.
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