I was reading Matthew 22 this morning and found that Jesus' words spoke straight to my soul. The photo above isn't anyone I know, it's just called, "Bride Waiting." Verses 1 - 14 talk about the parable of the wedding banquet. There's a man who wants to celebrate his son's wedding and throw a party so he sends his servants to invite the guests who refuse to come. He does so a second time, but they are too busy, and some even persecute the servants and kill them. The man, enraged, commands his leftover servants to go into the streets and invite anyone: the good, the bad, and the ugly. They all come.
Now, I would think that the parable would end here. The man represents God, his son is Jesus, and the celebration is the marriage of Christ and the his Bride (the church). The servants are us Christians who go forth to spread the Good News that Jesus is coming again for his Bride (the church) and we can go to heaven and be forgiven of our sin in His name when we believe. The people who refuse the gospel represent the world who rejects Christ and persecute the church. The good, bad, and ugly represent the widows, orphans, poor, and rejected people who find Christ. As you know, God always chooses the "weak" or "lesser" things of this world to shame the wise, strong, and powerful.
But the parable didn't end... There's more.
The king came in to see a man there NOT wearing wedding clothes. He asked how the man got in the banquet and the man was speechless. He had apparently snuck in. The king had him thrown out into the "darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Verse 14 ends with, "For many are invited, but few are chosen."
At first glance at the second half of the parable I think of a "wolf in sheep's clothing." Someone, who, goes out of there way to look, act, talk, walk, and breathe like a Christian but really wants to cause dissension and lead people astray. I'll be honest, while I don't want to cause strife or harm among the brethren, part of me was scared and I asked myself: Is this me? Am I a fake? Do I dress, talk, walk, and act like a Christian only to not know the true power of the living God in my heart?
I can tell you that although I sin and mess up drastically, and have a bit of a rebellious spirit at times, I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed to Himself for that day! Sometimes, I wish I had more of a black and white conversion. Crazy, huh? Couldn't I have had just a small addiction to drugs or something? Something to where I could see a dramatic change of heart and just KNOW by my heart change what Christ did for me? I got saved as a kid, so outwardly, there's some gray. Don't get me wrong, I've let my heart get to the point where it was so black and calloused that when I finally was brought out of the pit I KNEW it was Christ in Me who redeemed me and set me on a rock! But I don't wanna' always live in past experiences. I want Christ now! I want to WEAR the wedding clothes: robes of righteousness, garments of praise, etc, etc! I think when we read scripture we should always question our motives and who we are. Probe ourselves until it hurts. Find sin and allow Christ to tear it out of our lives!
My prayer today is that I continue to press forth like the servants did. No matter what the cost, sharing God's grace with others and learning how to better except it for myself (not by earning it or trying to achieve it). May God's grace be with you today.
