The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“At the dinner hour he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is ready now.’ And yet they all alike began to make excuses.”

—Luke 14:17–18

God invites everyone to the eternal banquet—he is “not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)—but those who find their satisfaction in this world will often have some reason to refuse—something they believe is more important.

“I have business,” “I’m getting married,” “I have things to take care of (Luke 14:18–20).”

So the master invites those considered to be undesirable—the have–nots of the world.

Those people could see that their need was not filled by the fleeting value of the things of this world. They knew that money, health, and power are all too transient, and they wanted a lasting, eternal abundance.

We should never decline God because we’ve become happy, content, fulfilled, absorbed with, or distracted by the things of this world. He might invite us to some task that takes us away from a life we’ve meticulously built and now place our hope in, just like the rich young ruler. Jesus told him to sell all he had and follow, but the man would not because his faith was in his possessions. He “went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property” (Mark 10:22), but that grief brought him no closer to God.

Our excuses might mean we’re trusting in and filling our hearts with things other than God. Let’s not forfeit our place at the table by allowing earthly blessings—the deceitfulness of riches (Mark 4:19)—to blind us to our one true need. Let’s choose eternal joy and lasting worth.

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