Taking Time for God
By Jesse Pingenot in Student
“How often do I turn down invitations from God to spend time with Him?”
One of my students, Gabe Richner, said this to me recently. We were talking about the Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matt 22 and Luke 14. This is a great question to ask yourself in application for this parable.
In the parable, a rich man puts on a wedding feast, but when he summons everyone he invited, they refuse to come. Some made bad excuses (“I have bought a field, and I must go out to see it” in Luke 14:18, because apparently he bought the field without looking at it first). Some even seized the servants who were summoning the guests and killed them (Matt 22:6). So the rich man brought in anyone who would come.
This is a parable about the Kingdom of God, and it’s very obviously following the history of God with Israel. God invited the people of Israel into His Kingdom, but they rejected Him and they killed His prophets. So God invited Gentiles.
But, like all such stories in the Bible, this has a personal application, all the more so, because as a leader in Chi Alpha, you are attending the wedding feast. You are in the Kingdom of God.
Every day, God invites you to enter into His presence. While you sit in class, while you’re doing homework, while you’re working, while you’re watching TV – at all times, God invites you to enter into His presence.
How often have you been playing a game and found your mind turn to God? That was an invitation, God wanting to spend time with you. Did you take Him up on it?
This question really hit home with me. I find myself doing the very same thing. I will be working and I’ll find my mind turns to God, and I’ll say to myself, “I have work to do. I’ll pray later.” I ignore God’s invitation to spend time with Him. I turn Him down.
God loves His children. He wants to spend time with you.
Next time something like this happens—you’re doing homework and your mind snaps briefly to thinking about God—don’t ignore it. When God knocks on the door of your mind, open the door. Find out what God wants to say to you.
Don’t be afraid to put off work for a few minutes while you talk with your Dad. The work will wait.
All views expressed on this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, U.S.A., U.S. Missions, and The General Council of the Assemblies of God.