HOME
Daily Devotions for the Advent and Christmas Seasons
Friday, December 4
Matthew 22:1-14
by Susie Wong
It’s been a rough couple of months at SafeHouse. Three of the youngest women left the program, one right after the other. They were all promising, young women, with their whole lives ahead of them. The third one was 18, just a kid. Every time I saw her, she seemed so full of life, she really sparkled. But after only 2 months at SafeHouse, her “uncle” pulled up in a van, and she went outside to meet him.
The SafeHouse counselor and the women who were home ran out and called to her, “Stay with us!” She didn’t listen. They reasoned with her, they cried, “There’s nothing for you out there! Come back!” But she drove away. It broke our hearts to see her go.
God must feel an infinitely deeper sadness when we turn down an invitation to the eternal banquet. God asks over and over again for all of us, both bad and good, to come. So I think to myself, “I heard the call, I try to do good. Do I have a seat at the banquet?” Maybe not. The passage tells us, “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” God gives us a chance, but are we really prepared to approach the kingdom of God?
Prayer
Gracious God, just like the women who struggle day by day to turn their lives around at SafeHouse, we know we can’t take our path for granted. Every day we must keep on preparing for your kingdom. Please open our hearts so we can keep on accepting your invitation and can see how to help bring others to the banquet. Amen.