Think about the last time you received an invitation to a certain event. Was it an event that you will remember? Sometimes these questions are asked among ourselves as we get an invite in the mail that is asking us if we would attend that certain event. In our daily lives many people are invited to weddings, birthday parties, graduations and the list goes on. There is also another kind of invitation that is usually offered at many churches and that is an invitation to put Christ on in baptism and die to your old self to start living for HIM. Life is not always a breeze when you are baptized, for Satan is like a roaring lion waiting for the perfect opportunity to devour his prey. Newer Christians are easily targeted to be tempted, however many older Christians are also tempted in the same way because Satan tries to justify the wrong to make it appear to be the right thing to do at the time. The invitation is a message of hope that one day we will be with Jesus, and it is an open invitation that should be a message to help bring others to Christ; and together encourage one another on the way to the ultimate finish line. It is often an open invitation that many churches often use, but you do not have to be at a church house to accept the invitation given by the Ultimate Host! For example at a church camp you may accept the invitation to be baptized in the pool, or even in a smaller body of water depending on where you are at. Accepting the invitation of putting Christ on in baptism doesn't mean that life will be a breeze, but it is a step to realizing that you will not be alone along the journey towards the ultimate goal. Other times there are the invites to gather with friends and sometimes they can be the best invitations to show others you care.
So the next time you get an invitation remember there is always one invitation that is always open and the question is will you accept the invitation?
Zechariah 3:10 (NIV) 'In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the LORD Almighty."
Luke 14:13-14 (NIV) But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and when you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Sheetal Tadiparty
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