You're Invited!!

I spoke with a good friend by email today. And in response to some of her comments, I was moved to suggest this metaphor for why it's important that we actively seek God's counsel (be it from the Bible, fellowship, Church or any of the ways God has set forth for us to commune with Him.) I thought it was really neat to hear from God this way, so I thought I would share it with you too.
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Let’s say someone sends you an invitation to a party that you’ve been dying to go to. It's a legendary party thrown every year, everyone always talks about and now you've been invited to go! You are so excited. All the expenses are paid and it's going to the most carefree and wonderful time of your life. There's no limit to how enjoyable this party will be!

You pull the invite from the mail box, (it's a gorgeous envelope even!) you bring it inside... but for some reason you decide that you don't need to open the invite to read it.

Why?

"Ehhh....there's no need to read it." You tell yourself.
"I know the person who sent it to me, and I'm certain I can figure out how to get there!"
There are directions right inside the envelope, but because you know the person who sent it, you decide that you already know the details and how to get to the party.

"There's no need to read the invite, because I've heard other people who are going, and they'll give me a ride there!" (Even though you feel some apprehension about riding with some of these people who tend to get lost on their way to grocery store..that doesn't bother you.)

"I know the invite is probably pretty and all but it's really not neccessary for me to read it because I've already "Googled" the map on how to get there, and we all know that Google is never wrong." You reassure yourself.

So because you're relying on information about the party from other sources such as yourself, your friends, and Google- you decide that seeing the actual invitation isn't too important. Confident with your decision you leave the unopened invitation on the table by the door, and you go on with life until the day of the party.

What IF

What IF this year the host has decided not to throw the party at their house as they have done in past.
What IF instead they’ve rented the most amazing room at the most elegant hotel in Hawaii to throw the party this year.
And what IF this year the host has decided that because you give so much of your time and effort to help others in need, YOU are going to be the most celebrated guest.

You're a good person because you give up your money to help others in need, you donate money to many charitable institutions. You also spend a lot of your time working to help others who are less off than you. This year the committee wants to show their appreciation for all this hard work by celebrating you at the most exciting party of your life!! The host even knows you so well, that he remembered how much you hate surprises, so he wrote it all down in the invitation, just so you would be sure to attend.

However, you didn’t open the invite.
The details of all the grandeure were not revealed to you, because WHY?
You already knew how to get there, and you left the beautiful envelope sitting on the table.

Sadly, the day of the party arrives. Banners are hung with your name on them, guests are awaiting the excitement to begin, and yet...you never arrive.

You miss the party and all the appreciation that was planned for you, because you thought you knew all the details already.

What a bummer.

See....what IF, you don't know everything about how life will end? What if you go through life assuming that you know about heaven, and God, and how you should act to be recognized in the afterlife? What if God sent you His instructions for how to get to heaven, but you never read it? Wouldn't that be a bummer too?



What if you had a really good friend, who knew this was all planned for you, and she didn’t tell you to open the invite? That's what makes me want to speak to you about this.

I encourage all my friends to seek Christ in all times, to take a second look at what they're believing to be true, because... What if they’re wrong? It’s a huge gamble.
I don’t have any clue how long eternity is….but it feels like it's taken me a long time just to get to 33 years of age…so I imagine eternity is way more of a problem if I’m going to have to live with the consequences of my choices for that long.