Daily Devotional for November 12

 

November 12                                                   Luke 14:12-24

                     "Come; for all is now ready."

Sitting beside my friend, the stream, I say, "How I long to sit
down at the heavenly banquet!"

The stream replies, "The banquet is now."

"How can it be now?" I ask.

The stream says, "Every day the Spirit invites you to partake
of the heavenly feast."

"Then why haven't I heard the invitation?" I ask.

"It is because it is so much a part of life that you don't notice
it. It first comes in the morning when you awaken, a gentle
invitation to feed on Christ before you begin your day."

"Yes, I have heard that invitation," I answer, "but I must hurry
to get to work."

"Still," the stream says, "the invitation is extended throughout
the day, for God longs for your presence. The Spirit therefore
whispers in your heart, 'Will you take time from your day to
come and enjoy the great banquet prepared for you?' "

"Yes, I have heard these words, but I have mortgaged my days
with meetings, appointments, conferences, luncheons, phone
calls, and dinners. I have no time left for the banquet."

"All is not lost," the stream continues, "for the invitation also
comes in the quiet hours of evening when peace has settled
on the earth. With gentle persistence the Spirit announces,
'Come; for all is now ready.' "

"I've heard that invitation, too," I admit, "but I'm so exhausted
from the day's busyness that I have no energy to respond."

As I sit beside the stream I realize how impoverished my busy
life has been and how deaf I have become. At that moment I
hear in the silence the invitation that I have so often ignored:
"Come; for all is now ready."

Gratefully I set aside the cares of the day and enter the heavenly
banquet.

​

From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C