TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17 ESV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• I have the best dog in the world. I know, I know… them’s fightin’ words! Everyone thinks they have the best dog. And we’re all right.
But my girl, Beth, is special. I can always tell when she is getting up for the day (before she takes her three morning naps, four afternoon naps, and two evening naps before bedtime — by that time, she’s exhausted). From the living room, I can hear her getting up. It starts with the shake her head and the thwomp thwomp thwomp of her ears… a loud huff, and then, she peeks her head out of the bedroom where she pauses and waits for me to call her. And I take great delight in calling her to me every morning because I love her so much. She’s so sweet and so eager to be obedient. But her pause kind of breaks my heart because she’s waiting to be invited in and accepted.
We have a lot in common with my dog. We all want to be invited and accepted. Unfortunately, other people may let us down, and over time, our broken trust may make us hesitate to accept an invitation for fear of rejection. But there’s One we can trust completely to accept us even when the whole world rejects us.
When we look at the life of Jesus, He was eager to welcome and accept anyone who called on Him. He was eager to show love to anyone, no matter what their past. His goal was to call out to anyone who would hear and invite them to know Him. He was eager to help sinners discover unmerited grace through their repentant heart and His unparalleled love.
Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” All we need to do is come. Exactly as we are. And His love and grace take care of the rest. When we accept His invitation, He fixes what is broken and can transform even the most rejected.
Our job as Christians is to show others. It’s not the responsibility of pastors and teachers. Jesus didn’t put any exceptions to His command to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). We have to tell others so they too can come. So that they too can have their sins forgiven and be accepted. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). He alone can give us the acceptance we crave.
Today, as you pray, thank Jesus for His example to love others… thank Him that He loves us too, despite our pasts and poor choices. Thank Him for His forgiveness and acceptance of all those who ask to come. Ask the Holy Spirit to equip you to invite others to experience Jesus for themselves.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the ESV translation.
