Verse: Luke 14:21-22
21…Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’
Devotional Thoughts:
This past Friday was a day that I had circled on my calendar – it was the opening night of The Lion King. As you can likely tell from past newsletter articles, I was very much looking forward to seeing this new, photorealistic movie, and my family had made plans for us all to go see it.
So Friday night arrives, and the movie started at 9:30. We arrive at the theater around 9:00, just to make sure we get tickets. We walk up to the register to purchase our tickets, and I hear the dreaded words – “We are sold out.”
There was no more room. Something I had circled on the calendar, something I was really looking forward to, and there was no more room. The realization that I would have to wait a couple more days to see the movie hit me. The disappointment was real.
I was thinking about that trip to the movies this week, and it occurred to me that Jesus seemed to prioritize those for whom there was no room. Some of the classic stories about Jesus that we know by heart are stories about the ones for whom there was no room. Consider Luke 5, where some friends lower a paralyzed man through the roof for Jesus to heal because there wasn’t any room in the house. Or flip over to Luke 19, where there was no room for Zacchaeus to even see Jesus because of the crowds surrounding him, but Jesus made it a point to come and talk to him.
In fact, if you flip through the entire book of Luke, the only one who ever gets left out because there wasn’t any room was Jesus himself, and his family, when they had to take shelter in a stable because the inn was full.
Points to Ponder:
As sinners, that’s what we deserved. To be excluded. To have the door shut in our face. To be banished from the presence of God forever. But, we all know what the famous verse says – “For God so loved the world…” He loved us. He wanted us to have eternal life with him.
So Jesus took our place. He was excluded on the cross – forsaken by the Father – so that we might be included in the family of God.
So, like the verse above says, there is still room for you. If you don’t know Jesus, there is still room for you. Jesus loves you and died on the cross for your sins. There is still room in the family of God for you.
Or maybe you’re a believer and just going through a difficult time. Maybe this is just a tough season of your life. And you’re wondering if God is still there for you. Or maybe you’ve sinned and wonder if God still loves you. And I want to assure you that there is still room for you. You still have God’s ear and God’s attention. He has not forgotten you, cast you aside, or shut the door in your face. He loves you and cares for you.
So if we have such a great privilege and standing before God as to be considered children of God, then let’s turn to our Father. Let’s cast our cares on him; let’s be unceasing in our prayers. Because we know he hears, he cares, and he will never turn us away.
