Party Hard!

But not with your friends...

Courtesy © Ingrid Perlstrom | Dreamstime.com

It sounds absurd, but the truth of God's kingdom lies within.  Here is what Jesus said:

12 He said also to the man who had invited him, When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.




Luke 14:12-14 ESV 

Party hard, but do it not for your friends, relatives, and co-workers, do it for those who need God's love and can't repay you for sharing it with them.

The point is this: Jesus said he came not for the healthy but for the sick. (Matt 9:12)  A true test of whether or not God has complete control of us, is how we serve those who can't repay us.  The sinful, human nature tells us to serve only those who will serve us back.  To serve those who have the means to repay us and sometimes a means to repay us with great gain!

Jesus said whatever we have done for the least of these, we have done for Him. (Matt 25:40)  There is no higher service than service to the King of Kings.  The least of these are those who can't repay us for serving them:  The poor, crippled, lame, and blind. 


Jesus told us to store up our treasure in heaven where moth and rust can't destroy and thieves can't break in and steal. (Matt 6:20)  Yet, so many of us store up for ourselves only treasure here on earth.  We store up treasure that gains us now but will ultimately be destroyed.

Look, Jesus came for the least of these.  He came for us!  To God who is perfect, holy, awesome in power, the King over all creation, owns cattle on a thousand hills (endless resources of every kind), mighty savior, we are nothing but dust.  Yet God loved us and saved us! (John 3:16)  He came because we were helpless. We need Him.  Only He can save!

If, then, God is living through us, we should do the same for those who are the least to us.  Those who will never repay us.  Our payment is treasure stored up in Heaven.

Let's go to them and serve them, just as Jesus came to us and served us. We show them, through our very actions, why we do it—Because God first loved us! (1 John 4:19)

Party hard, but don't invite your friends...


...and don't get drunk or do drugs.