If you have spent even just a little bit of time in church or bible studies, you have no doubt heard the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding. If you have not read it, you can find it in John chapter two.
Many lessons can be taught from this passage and I have read it a zillion times. I was tempted to just zip through it a few weeks back. I resisted that temptation and read each word carefully. You see, the Holy Spirit can reveal new things to you even when your bible is falling apart from years of use.
On this particular day John 2:2 jumped off the page and into my heart. "and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding". It sounds simple enough, but as I thought of that verse throughout the day it became clear what God was saying to me.
Jesus was INVITED to the wedding. He didn't storm the gates and insist on attending, he didn't sneak in the back entrance and he didn't show up as a "plus 1" on someone else's invitation. HE. WAS. INVITED.
My point...Jesus will not take over your life by force. He won't sneak in your house and teach moral standards to your children. He won't crawl through a window and save your marriage, or steal your password and bless your finances. You have to invite Him in and give him full access.
As Christians we are to become increasingly Christ like. I'm not there yet. You are not there yet. The only way we can get there is to invite him in to be an active part of our whole life. When we invite guests into our home, we clean or straighten so they will be comfortable in our home. On occasion I have been guilty of hiding toys in the closet and closing doors to messy bedrooms when company is coming. That was my attempt of trying to make it look like I had my house under control when I didn't. We try to do the same thing in our spiritual lives. We clean up the part of our lives that people can see and close the doors to the troubles, doubts and fears that we don't want to reveal. But because of God's grace and mercy we don't have to close any doors. We can fling open the door to our heart and invite Jesus into our messed up lives. He will come in and love us as we are and will give us the strength and the courage to clean up those hidden places.
The thought that Jesus can love me right here, right now in the middle of my mess just blows my socks off!
Extend the invitation to Jesus. He is waiting to come into your life!
Peace out!
AmyLou
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