An Open Invitation
“Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give
you rest for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28
Invitations come in all forms. Wedding invitations, party invitations, and
even, invitations from businesses.
Seems like we’re barraged on all fronts these days.
Some time ago, I received an e-mail from a salesperson from Verizon. His name was Don O’Treply. Irish names having a distinguishing nature to them and
this one was as unique as any I’d heard. I had never met him before and assumed it was
a business proposal for a special transaction, so it remained unopened. As we are all familiar with the e-blasts, I
kept getting them over several days and thought, “This Don O’Treply at Verizon is
a persistent character.” After
about the fourth one in as many days, something began to click in. Give me a
few days and I’ll figure things out as the Agent 007 began to surface. It wasn’t a person at all but in fact, it
came to me that the e-mail actually read:
In common language, or for smarter people than myself, the
e-mail was actually saying” DO NOT
REPLY.” It wasn’t a distant international salesman, whatsoever but a simple
message requesting that nothing be done but to read it. I have
always questioned why the LAPD hasn’t called me to help crack any unclosed
cases and now I’m convinced of the reason, I am far less James Bond, and far more Maxwell
Smart.
The Bible relates other invitations that are far more clear,
delivered by Jesus Himself.
Luke
19:10- “I have come to seek and to save the lost.” (The Salvation Invitation)
Mark
1:17- “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (The
Serving Invitation)
But in Matthew
11:28, Jesus gives his heart for those
who are feeling the weight of the world, He says, “Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give
you rest for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28 (The
Stillness Invitation)
Someone suggested
on the radio recently that, “Anyone who doesn’t have high blood pressure
these days simply isn’t paying attention.” The faster our time saving
devices arrive, the more agenda items we have to accomplish. Think about it:
168 fresh hours to begin this week, starting this
morning. Out of that…56 hrs for sleep. ..14
hrs for getting ready for work….40-60 hrs for work…21 hrs for eating. As a result, we have to slam everything else
in where we can. No wonder blood
pressure rates are at an all-time high and peace at the all-time low..
In the midst of
that, Jesus extends an invitation…and many of them. An invitation to his Word,
times of prayer, and moments of Worship.
He always stands ready…waiting for our “reply.”
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1) When did you first reply to God’s “Salvation
Invitation?”
2) In a time of prayer today, hand over a point
of stress to Him
Copyright
2014- Terry Risser
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