Matthew 22:1-5 – And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business.
THEME OF THE DAY. A HEART-HARDENING HABIT. The Christian life is filled with many spiritual dangers. Not a day goes by we are not confronted with spiritual foes seeking our destruction. It is an unwise and ill-prepared Christian who simply rushes into each day oblivious to this reality. And the evil tactics of our foes are many, subtle, well-crafted, and easily trip us up. We may quickly be in a stranglehold by any of our foes – the devil, the world, and the flesh, and the vibrant walk with our Lord Jesus gets reduced to lifeless execution of “Christian” obligations performed out of a sense of duty, not delights of the soul. One of these effective warfare tactics is found in today’s scripture in the words “But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business.” We may label this heart-hardening strategy of our spiritual enemies as “spiritual neglect of known privileges.”
In today’s scripture, Jesus is speaking in a parable on the Kingdom of heaven. The spiritual lesson is that of a gracious God inviting people to celebrate His Son, to enjoy Him, to be in union with Him, and to feast at His table. It is a wonderful picture of becoming a Christian and then entering into a life of joy-producing discipleship and obedience to the Lord Jesus. Yet, think on the response of those invited . . . “But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business.” They ignored and neglected the gracious invitation of God to know Him.
One of the deadliest things Christians do in their spiritual lives is neglecting the things of God. Nothing will produce a cold and hard heart quicker than to start missing what God has given us to grow and get close to Him. If we start missing daily times in the Bible and prayer, it will become a habit. If we start compromising Sundays, miss a Lord’s Day here, then another, and soon, very soon, church absenteeism becomes a habit – a very bad habit. We will grow cold to church and being absent won’t bother us. Friends, that is of the devil. Church is a huge big deal. God has made it so and to miss the weekly gathering of God’s family by choice, it is a sign of spiritual indifference and defeat. But there is more about this heart-hardening habit of spiritual neglect in the response of the people in Jesus’ parable. This soul-damaging habit was willful. They chose to neglect Him and for selfish reasons. They paid no attention to Him because of self-interests. Fight this hard, beloved. We are full of self-love by nature and unless we fight it daily, and especially on the Lord’s Day, it will rule and we will find ourselves actually justifying spiritual neglect in the things of the Lord.
The Christian life is war and our foes strong. And they will prey upon our human weaknesses. One such weakness is being creatures of habit. Don’t let the world, the devil, and the flesh draw us into the habit of spiritual neglect of the Bible, prayer, and faithfulness to the Lord’s Day. A habit once established is difficult to break and especially if it is a bad spiritual habit empowered by the devil, world, and flesh. Be on guard against the first sign of this heart-hardening tactic – spiritual neglect of known privileges God gives us to know Him.
PRAYER: “Father, forgive me for the times I allow my flesh to neglect You in Word and prayer.”
QUOTE: “Start neglecting the things of the Lord and it will become a heart-hardening habit.”