Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – December 1, 2016
By Tripp Prince
So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ Matthew 22:4
One of the things I love about my family is that, growing up, there was almost always a guest invited into our common life together. Whether it was to share a simple meal or at times people who needed a place to call home for a season, my family was always open to the needs of others, giving them a place to belong and be known. This is a value that my wife and I have embraced for ourselves and hope to pass on to our own children.
However, as much as I value this culture of hospitality for myself and my family, as Christians, this actually strikes to the core of who we’re called to be as followers of Jesus. We were once strangers, separated, alienated, and isolated from God and one another. Yet God in his mercy opened himself up to us, inviting us to know him as sons and daughters and to share in his eternal community of love.
This invitation into a life of love is true for us as individuals, but it is also true of us as the wider family of God. When we gather to pray, sing, read scripture, and feast at the Lord’s table, we are primarily receiving the hospitality of the Lord- his invitation for us to draw near and seek his face.
The beauty of the transforming work of grace in our lives is that, when we receive from the Lord we are changed, renewed, and equipped to live and love just as we have received.
Just as the Lord offers himself to us in love, we are then sent out and equipped to be people who do the same. We learn from the Lord’s hospitality how to live sacrificially for the sake of others. We learn as God’s people what it means to always be open and receptive to the guest in our midst. And in light of the feast of forgiveness, love, and acceptance that the Lord offers to all, we learn that we are meant to be active in our hospitality, seeking out people in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and wider communities, saying boldly with love, “everything is ready. Come to the banquet!”
Prayer
Father, as we receive your love and invitation to be known by you, may we also learn to live for the sake of others and actively share with them the love that we have been given.Application
How can you in word and deed share the Lord’s hospitality with someone you know?Related Reading
Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9Post/Tweet today
We learn from the Lord’s hospitality how to live sacrificially for the sake of others. #WisdomHunters #theLord’shospitalityWorship Resource
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