21 Days until Easter

21 Days until Easter

My greatest yeses.  As I think back to the times I have responded with a “yes”, there are a few among many that stick out in my mind as the greatest.  Back when I was fourteen, my mom made me a beautiful purple dress for a school dance.  Off I went, sparkling the night away in my purple sequins.  Josh asked me to dance. And as “Lady in Red” played over the speakers, he asked me to be his girlfriend.  I said yes.  Then at nineteen, he took me out on a date.  And instead of driving past the place where we had our first dance, he pulled the car into the parking lot.  He pushed play on the car stereo and asked me to dance. And as “Lady in Red” played out into the parking lot that had become our dance floor, he asked me to be his wife.  I said yes.  Looking back to the night in the purple dress, I had no idea that the boy I was dancing with would grow to be a man that I’d live the rest of my life with as his wife.  There’d be good times and hard times.  I’d get sick.  We’d move a time or two.  We’d have the most amazing children.  What a most incredible life it has been!  Accepting that invitation was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done.  It was pretty simply a yes or no question, but accepting with a “yes” changed my life.  It meant living this life out with my person in the very best possible way.

Jesus told a story and he compared the kingdom of heaven to a king giving a wedding feast for his son.  The king sent out servants, calling all who had been invited to the feast.  But no one would come.  So then he told the servants to let them know that everything is prepared; a huge feast awaits. There’s nothing to do but show up to enjoy, so come to the wedding feast.  But again, the invitation was either ignored or rejected or even met with violence.  The king reacts to those who met the invitation with violence by sending troops to destroy those who had murdered. Realizing that the guests who were initially invited weren’t worthy of the invitation, the king sends his servants out into the streets to invite anyone they saw.  The guests filled the banquet hall and when the king went to greet his guests, he noticed that one had entered the feast without putting on his wedding garment.  It was customary for guests to be provided with proper garments at royal engagements, yet this man rejected the garment.  And when the king confronted him, he couldn’t believe he had been called out.  He was recognized as an intruder and was tied up and thrown into the darkness.  

There’s an open invitation for all to come to Christ.  And for those who choose to accept the invitation and receive Him as Lord of their life, He clothes them in His righteousness.  The invitation is ours.  But so is the simple response of yes or no.  Some will choose to ignore the invitation.  Maybe like the wedding guests, they are just too busy to worry about it, so they just keep living life as they are. Some will reject the invitation.  The invitation is all inclusive, all are invited, but at the end of the day, those who choose to reject the invitation will not be a part of the family of God.

And the very best of my yeses? Well, I was just a little girl, but I still remember the exact pair of shoes I was wearing the night I accepted the invitation.  I knew that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I loved Him with all of my heart.  I knew that I was a sinner and I knew He would be the only One to save me from my sins.  His calling was too strong to ignore.  So one Sunday night, I walked down the aisle of a tiny little church.  And I said yes.  I still remember looking down at my shoes as I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life.  Drop.  A tear would fall on my blue canvas shoes with a Velcro strap.  Drop.  Another tear.  As one tear would soak into the fabric of my shoes, another would fall.  Although I was young, I knew that I had asked Jesus to dwell in my heart.  And as I stood there at the front of the little church, I knew that I was not righteous or worthy, but I accepted His willingness and desire to clothe me with His own righteousness.  At the time, I didn’t realize that the response of a simple yes or no would be so life changing.  Accepting that invitation was the greatest thing I’ve ever done.  It meant living this life out with my Savior in the very best possible way.  Standing there in my little tear soaked, blue canvas shoes, I had no idea what life would bring.  Life would bring a powerful cancer, but God would bring an even more powerful peace.  Life would bring unimaginable stress, but God would bring rest.  Life would bring storms, but God would walk on the troubled waters for me.  My personal salvation was not a one night moment.  It has been a lifelong relationship with my Savior, Who loved me enough to lay down His life for me.  There has never been a greater love.  And I could never express my gratitude for His invitation to call me His own.

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” Titus 3:4-6