October 25th
Today's Bible Reading
The Few
Matthew 22:14
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
God calls everyone to embrace Him. His universal call extents to all mankind. The invitation to enter into an intimate dynamic relationship with Him goes out to all the earth. Many are called, but few are chosen.
Jesus tells a parable of a wedding feast. All is prepared. The invitation is extended. The response is minimal. Other interests occupy the invited. They decline the offer to attend. Though called they didn’t come. So the invite is expanded to any and all who would attend. A universal appeal is broadly broadcasted to everyone. Many responded. The banquet hall was filled with eager participants. Yet in the midst of the guest is one without the proper wedding attire. He is immediately removed. He is rejected. He is tossed out of the feast.
Here is a sobering truth for us. God calls. He issues the invitation. He calls us to His feast. He beckons us to attend. Yet for many the interests of this life constrain them. Life keeps them from coming. Disinterested, they decline the Lord’s invitation. The world offers them what the wedding doesn’t. The pleasures of this life prevented them from participating. They choose society over the savior. They reject God’s invitation.
But those who attended are the chosen. The few who receive and rejoice at the invitation are those who are selected. They embrace the opportunity to enter in. They are not held back or hindered by the things of this life. They come. Stirred by the Spirit, they come. These are the enlightened ones. They are the awakened ones. They are the drawn ones. They are those who have been regenerated. They respond. They are received. They are included. They alone display the effectiveness of their calling. They are the ones who demonstrate the evidence, by their coming, that they are the selected ones. All were invited, but they alone came. They are the chosen.
Today thank God for inviting you to his banquet. Rejoice that the Lord loves you and wants you to be in a relationship with Him. Thank Him that he has prepared this feast with you in mind. Pray for those who have no desire to join in the Lord’s feast. Ask the Lord to change their heart of rejection to a heart of reception. Pray that they will be one of the few, the chosen.
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