HINDERANCES IN COMING TO JESUS!

HINDERANCES IN COMING TO JESUS!

Luke 14:16-20

16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

This is a parable. In it Jesus seems to be showing three hindrances to following Him.

PROPERTY

A piece of ground requires our time and energy. Even a small well kept lawn cries out for care. Larger estates invade our thinking. Perhaps there is oil or gold to be found underneath it. Perhaps the highway department or some supermarket will need it and pay me much more than it is commonly worth. If it is a truly large estate it can totally define us, like the King Ranch in Texas, it makes us who we are. We can become a proud land owner without any time for God.

THE BUSINESS OF LIFE

Commerce demands that one must go to prove a yoke of oxen. Anyone who owns a business, especially a small business owner, knows the demands of enterprise. It takes commitment and determination to be an involved Christian. Service clubs, charities and other appendages of business life also require our time. These things, we think, will generate customers and demand to be placed before the Lord in our priority.

FAMILY

“I’ve married a wife!” Many jokes have been made about this excuse but family also requires maintenance, time and energy. Good marital relationships require effort. Children must be provided for, constantly instructed and corrected. Little league baseball, pee-wee football, little dribblers basketball and soccer takes our time and our treasure and threatens our sanity. Scouts, clubs and societies demand another piece of us as well.

F. B. Meyer gives this conclusion. “The excuses which were offered were very shallow--the land would not have disappeared if its owner had postponed visiting it for a day; the cattle had surely been proved already, or they would not have been bought. As to the newly-married wife, there was no reason why she should not have accompanied her husband; there was plenty of room for both. Let us respond to the love which Christ offers to us, lest we be refused by Him at the last (Heb_12:25).”

Heb 12:25

25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

Dear Lord, please alert me when the cares of this life threaten to silence your voice to my soul. AMEN