Path to Wise Living
Invitations
It’s a wonderful feeling to receive an invitation: to a friend’s wedding, a baby shower, a small group, a thanksgiving dinner. We feel love and belonging. Responding is a wise thing to do.
God’s people felt alienated in their own land for centuries. They belonged to the loveless majority who were battered physically, emotionally and spiritually. The rulers hated them. That yoke was hard, the burden unbearable.
Jesus spoke deep healing words to them when he invited them to find the easy yoke and the light burden he is. Here’s his invitation as paraphrased by the Message:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30
I remember the day a co-worker, Kathy, invited me to church. I felt valued and cared for. Forty eight years later, “Come to Me!” remains a prominent voice to me.
How about you? What voices are you listening to? Jesus is the unique solution to a troubled soul and world. To offer less shortchanges humanity!
Alas, other voices clamor for my attention. Competitive inviters have vied for my allegiance. My yes to Jesus is always lifesaving during other invites. What are the voices I sometime listen to?
There’s the voice of self-sufficiency or selfishness, a crazy voice that entices: You’re in charge of your life. Don’t depend on anyone. No one cares more about you than yourself. Only you can help your self.
This voice is an invitation to isolation, not rest.
Another voice is distraction. We invent ways to fill the vacuum in our inner self. We entertain our boredom with social media, too much TV, and hours of binging on movies. It’s the perfect recipe to render ourselves deaf and dumb to the One inviting voice of love.
Ever heard the voice of laziness. It takes commitment to go to Jesus. You can come as you are, yes. But don’t stay as you are. The invitation is to become like him. That’s stratospheric! It takes a lifelong of training to say no to all the alluring voices. I don’t know about you, but I have an inherent laziness about this that only the grace and power of God can keep me growing.
Oh, the voice of despair. At times you’ve seen that the Lord was good. But lately you only see dark clouds all around. You pray, “Find rest my soul in Christ alone.” Take heart! Despair is short lived. His faithfulness is limitless. It reaches to the height of heaven. That’s immense love (Psalm 71:19) giving birth to hope.
One more voice, that of doubt. Perhaps we can use doubt to spur us on to seek, ask and knock, until we find. Doubt is not opposed to faith. Foolishness is. Doubt can be a catalyst to stronger faith.
The voice with the potential to change you? The voice of divine invitation. The voice of Christ.
Remember, being invited is not the only way to Jesus. God also came to us uninvited. Pursued us. Intruded into our reality, stepped incognito inside our humanity inviting us to join him as fellow-travelers.
The Gospels tell us of Jesus’ constant travels. He wasn’t invited to Nain to raise the dead (Luke 7:11-17), but he knew to go. He didn’t wait for Zacchaeus to come to him, he invited himself to lunch (Luke 19:1-10).
He does the same today. Invites us to himself. Invites himself into our lives. He knows our needs and knows when to intervene.
Whether we’re invited or he invites himself, we get the rest, the light burden and the easy yoke we desperately need and nothing else can give. And that’s a boatload of gratitude we owe.
With Jesus it’s a standing invitation. What are you waiting for? Unburden yourself!.