Transforming Tuesdays: RSVP To Your Invite In Heaven

Have you ever had to celebrate a special event that has caused you to go ALL out? Think of a wedding where there was possibly a banquet hall and lots of people or even a gala. Most of these things, you have to RSVP for so that the person hosting the event knows how many people will be coming so that they can prepare accordingly. Personally, the closest I've come to my own wedding day has been my Sweet Sixteen LOL! In any event, I am the most amazing Bridesmaid or Maid of Honor any wedding could have (I'm just saying!! lol). But anyway, when we celebrate commitments of love to one another as in a wedding or when we celebrate birthdays and accomplishments, it is natural to go ALL out because we absolutely deserve the best. Well wouldn't it be fair to say that God deserves the best??? Even outside of the millions of blessings that he bestows upon us, just the mere fact of waking us up every morning he alone deserves the best especially since we are not always deserving.

Today's reading in Matthew compares the Kingdom of God to a wedding banquet. Now we have already agreed to the fact that weddings are amazing and grand, so it should be no surprise as to how grand and amazing heaven will be when we get there. Revelations 21:12 reads, "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." The streets are made of pure gold!!! I am almost sure that every girl, if she could, would want gold at her wedding and yes pearls! The only difference between how Revelations depicts Heaven and the reality of the weddings that I've been to is that you don't have a huge bill to pay when you enter Heaven as you would after a wedding. With Heaven, we pay through repenting for our sins, being baptized, filled with the Holy Ghost, forgiving, witnessing, turning away from our wicked ways, knowing that Jesus is the truth and the light, and the list goes on. Everything that is required of us is attainable we just have to be willing to submit to God's will in order to do so.

As the parable continues in Matthew we see a King trying to host a wedding banquet for his son. Initially we see the servants being ordered to go out and extend invitations to all of the people who were invited. I found this interesting because when I think of weddings I automatically think about my closest friends and family and I know for a fact that not just anybody would be invited to my special day. In the story, the servants extended the invitation to the people on the guest list first, but unfortunately they were ignored and then eventually killed.  After none of the selected individuals agreed to come, the King opened up the invitation to anyone meaning he had to be desperate. This parable states that both good and bad people were pulled off of the street and brought into the wedding celebration. One man in particular was escorted out of the banquet when the King found him not dressed in wedding clothes. Reading this I found this a bit drastic, until I thought about it. What does this say about our daily walk with Christ?

Yes, Heaven is like a wedding in the sense that we celebrate the union of love --this would be the love between God and us. However, we have to be sensitive to the signs and invitations that we are given in preparation for that time. Granted no one of knows the time when the Son of Man cometh, however because of that uncertainty we should live everyday like it is our last. As all of the bloggers have stated throughout the weeks that we are all servants of Christ meaning we are to do his work.  This requires us to witness. Just as the servant in the parable was sent out to invite people to the wedding, we have a RESPONSIBILITY to invite people to church, introduce them to God, and show them the truth and the light. God honors us in doing so and yes we will be criticized and ostracized at times but none of that matters. At the end of the day, God will fight those battles for us and just as the King avenged the deaths of his servants in the parable, God will do the same for us.

Everyone is able to follow God and most importantly everyone is welcomed to do so here on Earth. The selectivity comes when we reach Heaven because that is the ultimate reward --eternal life. You don't want to be the wedding guest who came but was not dressed and then was thrown out. This also speaks to our garments. What are you clothed with? Do you wear the whole armor of God or do you wear the armor of the world? These are just things that we should continue to think about when strengthening our relationship with God. When we come before him we need to be dressed the part and that is metaphorically speaking. No one wants to be that guest who came and then was abruptly thrown out...the sad truth is that many people will be denied access to Heaven.

I pray that everyone receives the deeper meaning of the parable of the wedding banquet. Although everyone is welcomed and invited into Heaven, not all of us will get there. Life is so unpredictable so it is up to you to choose WHO or WHAT you are living for. No one can make that decision but you. Matthew 22:14, "For many are called, but few are chosen." LIVE THAT CHOSEN LIFE & TAKE STEPS TODAY TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT IN HEAVEN. 

BE BLESSED!!!

It's never too late to TRANSFORM YOUR TUESDAYS!!!

TRANSFORMING TUESDAYS: JAMERA