Chosen?

Today’s Reading: Matthew 22:1-14
　
“For many are invited, but few are chosen” (vs.14).
Am I one of the chosen? Will I be sitting at the banquet table with Jesus?
How it must hurt Jesus for his children to refuse his invitation. How it must hurt him to know that people will not even acknowledge his sacrifice. How it must hurt him to know that the people you love so much will never be with you in the place that was created for them. Some may say he is God and rejection doesn’t affect him the same way it does us, and I agree---I am sure it is much worse for him. Why? Well if his love for us is greater than any love that we can have for one another, then why wouldn’t his heart break even more for those that are lost?

As I write this I can’t help but think of how many times I have hurt Jesus’ heart. How many times I failed him. How many times I have rejected him when he was standing there with his arms outstretched before me. How many times have I ignored his calling? Sometimes I may have missed it because I was caught up in other things and while that is no excuse it is better than completely ignoring it even when I knew what he was asking me to do. It is really hard for us humans to admit failure, but more especially it can be extremely difficult for Christians to admit failing God. Perhaps this is why the people that should have recognized Jesus did not or maybe they did recognize him and would never admit they were mistaken originally. Either way they failed to hear the calling, they were not dressed for the occasion. I think they let their level of knowledge outweigh their level of spirituality. They let go of the idea that they were chosen by God and seemed to think that they were entitled to the Kingdom of God.

Friend, let me tell you, none of us are entitled to anything this world has to offer nor anything God has to offer. It is only through the grace, love, and sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we even have a way back to God. He invites us all, but few are chosen---why?---because there is only a few that turn their lives completely over to him and that, I believe, is what it takes to be chosen. It was just yesterday, prior to reading these scriptures, that I had a friend tell me that she was praying and said to God, you must feel overwhelmed by everyone talking to you all the time, getting so many request all at once---and she said God spoke to her and said there is not many of you. Few are chosen! Are you one of those few?

I cannot even begin to express my gratitude to God for making a way for me. With all the blessings that he has bestowed upon me, salvation is by far the greatest. I thank him daily, but know I need to do so much more. I do try my best to live for him everyday, but I know there is so much more that I need to do. I make mistakes daily, but I have also been learning more and more everyday from those mistakes. I cannot even put into words how much my life has changed since I started writing on a daily basis---it has only been 9 weeks since starting this blog, but those few weeks have been phenomenal l. Not the blog itself, although it has been such a wonderful blessing, but that I have not only read God’s word daily, I have studied it, I have reflected upon it, I have read many scriptures numerous times, I have prayed about it, I wrote down my thoughts, and then I prayed some more. It has made me realize how much I need to stay in the Word---I won’t make it to the table without it. It all goes back to my first blog---the words that prompted me to do this…

“If you claim to be a Christian and you say you follow Jesus, yet you don’t read and study His Word, then there is absolutely no way that you are truly following Jesus Christ.” ---Louis Kathman