We cannot comprehend the eternal impact of our earthly actions this side of heaven whether good or bad. We will never know what size of a ripple a small act of kindness will make in eternity. And we will never know how devastating a selfish act will have either, because the Bible only gives us a glimpse into what life after death will be like. We only understand the temporal; the here and now. But I would encourage you to keep your mind on your eternal destiny; to live primarily for what comes after this life. Yes, God wants us to enjoy life and to live it to the full, but we should never forget that this is not our home. God is calling us to the wedding banquet. He has invited us to prepare for what is to come. And those of us who accept his invitation must be dressed appropriately for the banquet or we will be denied. In a parable found in Matthew, chapter 22, Jesus says this in verses 11 through 14:
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Often times in the Bible, God refers to the church as his bride. And Christians make up the church. If you have accepted the gift of salvation that Jesus provided when he died for our sins and rose again, you are his bride. And no bride will go to her wedding without wearing the appropriate clothing. There is no way we can sneak into heaven, we must accept the invitation. If we haven’t before we die it’ll be too late. In the parable of the wedding banquet, Jesus mentions several who had been invited but, for one reason or another, they were unwilling to attend. Are you willing to attend or are the pleasures of life more important than your relationship with your betrothed? Will you be wearing the right clothes, or will you be thrown out into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth? I challenge you today to take your Christian walk seriously. I challenge you to always have your mind on God from when you rise in the morning to when you go to bed at night. Loving life and loving God are not mutually exclusive. You can, and should, do both. And if you are able, you will not find yourself at the banquet wearing the wrong clothes.
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In the parable of the wedding banquet, Jesus highlights someone who tries to attend the banquet, but wasn’t wearing the right clothes. He was immediately found out and was immediately cast out. Are you wearing the right clothes? If you are the bride, then you are. John 2:29 says: “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.” We are the bride and God is the bridegroom. There is no way to eternally remain in his presence if we do not accept the wedding clothes that God is giving us, so to speak. How ready are you? How willing are you to wait and listen for him, as it says in John, and to love him like a bride loves her future husband? I encourage you to correctly prioritize your life today. I encourage you to make God the most important factor guiding your future; to love him with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength so that when you find yourself in his presence after this life, you will attend his banquet in eager expectation and that God can easily see with a glance that you belong to him.
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