GOD'S INVITATION

Whom do we invite in our social media accounts, or even on special occasions which we host? We invite those whom we like; those whom we know and would like to know further. We invite our friends, our acquaintances, relatives, and even our crush, and we even invite the rich and powerful so that we can share some of the luxuries they enjoy in their life. We never invite total strangers. Who among you invited Robin Baluyot? Do you know him? He is my high school friend. Of course, no one. No sane person just invites literally everyone his event.

In the gospel (Lk 14:15-24), Jesus likened the kingdom to a banquet prepared by God to everyone. And in that banquet, God invites everyone. Yes, even those who seemed to be strangers. This gives us the idea of the universality of the salvation that God is offering to everyone. God wants everyone to be saved. He wants everyone to be present in the banquet he prepared in heaven. God wants us all to be in heaven. He invites everyone to His place. Does that sound insane or incomprehensible? That is fine after all God is beyond sane.

But #realtalk: though everyone is invited, not everyone confirms their attendance. The Lord offers himself to us all. Not everyone accepts such great a gift. God extends friendship to all humanity. Not everyone wants to be friends with God. Though God may have everything as He is the most perfect and most desirable of all being, some still find something else that seemed to be better than God: their work, worldly riches, their personal relationships, and other things that may have distracted them from seeing, appreciating and desiring to be in the presence of God. In the name of their search for a better life; for a maginhawang buhay, they missed heaven as the ultimate goal of every person. They are deceived, for “in the Lord, we can find our peace (PS 131:1BCDE, 2, 3). They refused so noble an invitation from God to feast with Him in eternity, in exchange for cheap and passing pleasures of this world.

St. Paul instructs us (Romans 12:5-16) to be true to ourselves; to our gifts and capabilities that the Lord has gifted us. And our foremost identity is our being parts of one Body in Christ. Thus, we are to be close to Jesus our Head in order for us not to be distracted by the world and the flesh, and be detached from the source of the meaning of our life.

Away from the Lord, we grow famished and live a purposeless life. Without the lord, we will start living a lie. With our confirmation of God’s invitation to heaven, we joyfully walk and prepare for that heavenly banquet here on earth.

You are invited to heaven!

Will you confirm God’s invitation?