INVITATION

This is an excerpt taken from John Comer's book “Practising the Way” An awesome read.

Do you want to follow Jesus? Not everyone does.

Read the Gospel: Tens of thousands were drawn to Jesus but only a few hundred at most became his apprentices. Practicing the way of Jesus will always be a minority activity.

Jesus' invitation – Come follow me was not to convert people to a new religion but to apprentice under Him into the life of the Kingdom.

This is the chance of a lifetime but in the Gospel stories, most people said no to His invitations

That’s what many of us will do. We delay, we seesaw, we make an excuse. Like going on a diet or, getting into shape, or organizing our closet, we procrastinate: I'll do it later. But later rarely comes or happens.

But what did Jesus say? Let the dead bury their own dead. This sounds unkind and even cruel to our modern ears but it wasn’t; it was just blunt. Jesus was saying, you can do that but if you choose that path, it will lead you to death, not life.

You see Jesus did not beg or manipulate or bully. Coercion is not the fruit of the Spirit. He didn’t use strong-arm tactics or offer a sales pitch. He just invited. And when people balked or made excuses, He let them walk away.

Can you imagine saying no to Jesus' invitation? I can. If you have lived long enough you will inevitably turn down an invitation you later regret.

You have an invitation before you to become an apprentice of Jesus. What will you say? No excuses.