I was brought up at No 22 Steel Street in Hamilton, NSW - it was the house that my grandfather, Joshua Fellows, had built when he came back from way up north. You can read all about that and my grandparents in the blog that I wrote, entitled "Hannah and Joshua".
It was a great house and was bought off my grandparents by my ever hard-working dad, Charles, and of course my Mum Hilda May, who was Hannah and Joshua's fifth and youngest child.
Right next door to us lived a couple of elderly ladies, one Mrs Smith and Mrs Hopley. Both ladies lived there on their own and spent a lot of time inside. Not sure what they were doing, but I know Mrs Smith used to give my poor old mum a hard time if we kids were making a lot of noise, which, you can imagine, is exactly what we used to do.
My mum was aghast when she used to get us kids to do that. I reckon she thought that was the very last thing you should ask children to do. Of course, these days, there is no possible way that young children can buy cigarettes, but in those days, anything was possible.
I am so delighted, really, that cigarettes are outrageously priced, and they are or were slowly losing their appeal, but in those days, Mrs Hopley really enjoyed them so much - She was obviously addicted to them.
She really enjoyed us kids trooping down to the shops, which would save her walking down there. Of course, as soon as we got that message from Mrs Hopley, straight inside we'd bolt and get some cash from Hilda May to buy an ice block or some sort of lolly or something.
We kids, felt like we were onto a banquet thanks to Mrs Hopley.
Jesus loved talking in parables or stories, and this one that he told was very similar to the banquet story he had told before. It went like this. You can read it in Luke 14:16-24
"A man was putting on a banquet and invited many guests. When he sent his servants to collect the people who promised to attend, they offered excuses for why they couldn't come. When the master heard that the guests had blown off his event, he sent his servant out to invite those at the bottom of society's ladder: the poor, lame, blind, etc. he then sent the servant out to invite travelers to come to the party."
Why did Jesus tell this story again? Well, there was apparently a guy at the gathering who yelled out about a previous parable that Jesus had told. It was a story about someone sitting in a place of honour (you can read that story in the previous blog). The guy yelled, "Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." he got it wrong, so that is why Jesus told the parable above.
The whole meaning of the parable that Jesus told was to verify that Heaven, God's amazing paradise, was awaiting them if they so desired. Still, they were all far too busy seeking and searching and also putting themselves ahead of everything and everyone else in the whole world. Hence, the parable about the guests who were invited but refused to come. All sorts of excuses were thrown at the guy putting on the banquet.
Jesus extended the story and said that the "servants went out and invited everyone, including the lame and the blind, and those poor and disabled, in fact, anyone at all that would like to come to the banquet, to please come and make it your comfortable home."
Just like Heaven is going to be for those of us who will accept God's amazing offer.
Jesus was actually dining in the home of a prominent Pharisee who had invited him because he intended to find out exactly what Jesus was all about and then probably work out ways to get rid of him. Sneaky little people they were back then, and I guess we still have the same today.
The Pharisees, back in the days when Jesus was actually physically here, were promoting themselves way, way above everyone else in the whole city. They were pompous in their attitudes to all and were so willing to take and hardly ever to give. Of course, there would have been others in the same capacity who weren't like this at all, but we know that their design was to get rid of Jesus at whatever cost it took to do so.
Jesus would have been fully aware of what was going on in the minds of the Pharisees and what they were planning behind his back. They were working hard to plan not only his evacuation from the whole of Israel, but as their plans got bigger and bigger, Jesus' crucifixion started to take first place in their minds and thoughts.
When I was reading this parable that Jesus told and then worked out exactly what those Pharisees were planning, my mind took a bit of a turn when I thought about where I was in my thinking. Was I like those Pharisees, looking at others and putting myself above them? Was I prepared to undergo whatever it took to promote myself rather than be supportive and caring of others?
It certainly brought me up with a huge jolt! Jesus was here on earth to tell us exactly what is prepared for us, even though we can be so involved in our own affairs and putting ourselves way above everyone else. Jesus brought out in the parable that we can be so caught up in our lives here that we give no thought about what is in store for us when we depart this life.
Our lives can be so involved in all sorts of amazing things happening, our employment, our family, our neighbors, our homes, or whatever, that we really have no time at all to even think about what Jesus was saying here and how important it is to give our lives to Him and make him ruler of everything we do.
Looking back on our times when we were kids growing up and seeing our neighbours from an adult's point of view, it came back to me how important it is to get a real dose of reality about life, and putting things in order. So many times throughout our lives, we take each day so much for granted, and the same for each night.
God, in his great wisdom, created night and day, which is amazing when you really consider the whole universe. The way we revolve around the sun, and the moon revolving around us, and how Earth, in this amazing galaxy of ours, is just a tiny pinprick of what is out there. God created us as special and unique, and we take it so much for granted.
Knowing all of this, it puts life as we know it into a real perspective. We should be constantly in awe of God and his amazing creation, not worrying whether someone has cut into our driving lane and gotten ahead of us as we drive. It really has made me put life in real perspective. Putting God first automatically makes everything else just fall into its correct place.
Are you putting God first? Do you know God at all? Do you even want to? You know Jesus died to take away your sins, and he rose again and is now in heaven waiting for you to give your life to him and make him first place in everything you do.
Ask him to come into your life and to lead you in what you do.
Hope to see you next time - God bless you this week
No comments:
Post a Comment