Invited, Ready, and Known

Imagine receiving an invitation to the most spectacular wedding celebration in history—complete with lavish food, royal attire, and the honor of celebrating with the king himself. Now imagine turning it down. This message takes us deep into two powerful parables from Matthew that reveal the stunning truth about God's invitation to us. Through the parable of the wedding feast and the parable of the ten virgins, we discover that God's grace extends to everyone—the good and the bad alike—inviting us to a banquet prepared at the ultimate cost. But here's the challenging part: the invitation requires a response, and that response must be lived out in our daily lives. We're given a royal garment to wear, symbolizing the transformed life that accompanies genuine faith. It's not about earning our way in; it's about accepting what's freely given and then allowing it to change us from the inside out. The oil in our lamps represents our personal spiritual preparedness—our time in prayer, Scripture, and relationship with God—and it's something we can't borrow from others at the last minute. This isn't a message meant to scare us but to prepare us, urging us to live with the joyful urgency of someone eagerly awaiting the most important reunion of our lives.