" A First Century Meal"

"And the slave said, 'Master, what you
commanded has been done, and still there
is room.' And the master said to the slave,
'Go out into the highways and along the
The hedges, and compel them to come in,
 that my house may be filled. For I tell you,
 none of those men who were invited shall
 taste of my dinner."
Luke 14:22-24


The Master's voice reverberates with the
urgency of a ringing bell. Go! Cry out to
everyone you see no matter who they are.
compel them to accept the invitation.
Christ is still crying out to the world to
receive His offer of salvation and follow
Him to the kingdom banquet. Many
people make excuses, but plenty come--
enough to fill God's house with
everlasting joy.
Lesson Learned from a First-Century 
Meal
As the curtain closes on the scene at
Pharisee's house, we're left with the
somber realization that none of those
present will eat at God's table unless
they choke down their pride and
receive Christ's invitation. Did any of
them do that? We're not told, but we
assume they went on, inrepentant, with
theirs dinner party.
 So that we won't leave the party
unchanged, let's take with us four truths
 from these four scenes.
    First, legalism blinds us and makes
us shortsighted. It blind us to anyone
who doesn't follow our list of acceptable
behavior. It makes us shortsighted to the
needs of our world.
   Second, pride backfires and makes us
selfish. We start playing the childish
 game of who's-better-than whom, and
we end up losing.
   Third, compassion blesses us and
makes us sensitive. It help us overlook
the color of people's skin or the size of
a person's wallet. We begin seeing others
through Jesus' eyes.
   Fourth, salvation beckons us and
makes us select.With Christ, there is no
middle ground. He makes us choose
between the things of this world and the
blessing of God's kingdom.
God's celestial party is already being
prepared. Will we be ready when the
dinner bell rings?