It’s Day 3 … Yey!! We are almost half way through. Listen to the Audio above as you follow through the text below. As always, leave a comment below and share with a friend
It’s been 7 years now since my wife, Sharon and I got married. We had been dating for about 2 years, and had occasionally talked about getting married. But the day we decided to do it and involve our parents is the day everything started moving so fast towards the wedding day.
As soon as I told my parents that I was ready to get married to Sharon, they immediately started searching their social data bases to find a person they knew, that also knew Sharon’s parents. This person would be our “go between.” It’s the “go between’s” task to bridge the two families and aid the conversation towards the marriage of their children.
The first time our families met was at the “Kukyala”. The Kukyala is typically hosted by the family of the bride to be. But the family of the groom is the one that makes the first request for an invitation to this meeting. I remember our kukyala being a really confusing day because I really had no specific task. My only Job was to dress up smart and keep smiling. I don’t remember saying a single word that day.
Meanwhile, Sharon’s family had prepared for our arrival that day. The house had been re arranged and special food had been prepared. Everyone in the living room was dressed for the occasion. There was nothing usual about that day. It was an important day for both families.
Oh man… I could go on and on in the nostalgia of that season, but today, I want to highlight the way invitation was done. Our family made the request for an invitation, and Sharon’s family welcomed us gladly. If they had denied us the invitation, we wouldn’t have gone into their home.
In the same way, Jesus has made the request for an invitation into our lives, and He is waiting for us to invite Him in. Jesus wants to be intimate with us and our invitation is the only thing standing in the way.
In Luke 19, there is a story of a short tax collector named Zacchaeus. Now Zacchaeus wasn’t a good man. He was a wealthy thief that had robbed many people, as all tax collectors did back then. When Jesus entered Jericho, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but he couldn’t because he was short and there was a large crowd around Jesus.
Zacchaeus run ahead and climbed a sycamore fig-tree to get a glimpse at Jesus approaching. When Jesus reached the tree, He said to Zacchaeus, “Come down! I must stay at your house today.” So Zacchaeus came down and at once welcomed Him gladly.
Did you see that? Jesus requested Zacchaeus for an invitation and Zacchaeus welcomed Him gladly. Now, Zacchaeus wasn’t a good man. When people saw Jesus go to his house, they muttered among themselves, criticising Jesus for he had gone to stay with a sinner.
As the story continues, that day, Zacchaeus became a new man. He gave away half of everything he owned to the poor and promised to payback everyone he had ever cheated four times over. Salvation had come to his house.
Isn’t it wonderful how Jesus, looked at Zacchaeus on that tree, and desired to stay at his house. He said, “I must stay at your house.” I wonder what Zacchaeus must’ve thought. Everyone knew him well for being a thieving tax collector and here comes Jesus desiring to visit and stay with him at his house.
More than we could ever understand, Jesus wants to be close to us. Yes, we all make mistakes! We’ve all hurt people and done things we aren’t proud of. But Jesus stands at the door of our lives desiring to come in and stay with us. If we let him in, he will change us and we will never be the same again.
Jesus is the ultimate ‘Go between.’ He connects us to the very source of life, our father in Heaven. He paid an expensive price to make this possible. A scandalous death on an old rugged cross. And now he stands at the doors of our lives desiring to come in and stay with us.
What does it mean to invite Jesus into your life? It means you surrender everything over to him. Nothing is off the table. It means you make time to get to know him, by reading your bible. It means you talk to him in prayer and lean on him for guidance and direction.
Sometimes, we invite Jesus into part of our lives and shut Him out of the rest of our lives. This keeps us away from experiencing the true transformation that Jesus wants to give us. If we want to see the abundant life that Jesus promises, we have to welcome Him gladly to be Lord over all of our lives. In our working and resting, in our relationships, in our language and in our love for one another. Yes, even in our ‘online lives’… He is knocking at the door. Will you let him in?
Prayer
Good and Gracious Father
Before time began, You knew me
You have always had a purpose for me
But I have hidden away from you
I have strayed away in my own ways
But you haven’t stopped seeking me out
Gracious father,
I surrender my life to you
Every aspect of it Lord, Have it all.
Instruct me daily
and change me from the inside out
May my life be everything you want it to be
And may my world see your Glory
through the change in Me
In Jesus Name I Pray
Amen
Verses
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.