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Day 62 Matthew 22:1 Matthew 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he said unto him, Friend, how came thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen. Most people like weddings, and few turn invitations down. However, it does happen that life interferes with the joys it contains, and people find they are unable to attend the wedding they were invited to. Jesus was not talking about a normal wedding. Remember, parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings. In this case, the King is God the Father. The Son, is Jesus Christ, the servants are the prophets God sent to the people to tell them about the coming Messiah, and those invited were the nation of Israel, to whom the prophets went, but instead of listening to the prophets, the kings of Israel mistreated and killed them. When the time was right, God sent his Son to call all those willing to listen, to bring the kingdom of heaven in their midst. However, the people wouldn’t listen, so the Father sent his servants, disciples, to the rest of the world to show them what Jesus came to do for them, and as many as received the message, were welcomed into God’s kingdom. John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (KJV) Even so, there will still be those who seem to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, but their outward appearance is that of the world, trying to fit in both the world and heaven. You can’t do that. You are either for or against Jesus as Savior and Lord. You can’t have it both ways. As Christians, you know the message of salvation God sent through Jesus, his Son. You also know there is coming a day when God will call all those who accepted him to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God. The wedding garment the guest lacked was the righteousness of the saints, those who believed Jesus is Savior and Lord. As Christians, your life is set apart from the rest of the world, and the world should be able to tell the difference between you and them. You might be able to fool those around you, but you will never fool God. God knows the motives and intents of the heart, and those who reject Jesus as Savior and Lord, will be cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth – hell. Are you wearing a wedding garment? Let’s pray: Father, thank you for inviting me to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Let me be worthy of the invitation, dressed in the wedding garment, the righteousness of the saints. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 20 June 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay