“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart.” (Joel 2:12, ESV)
It’s a happy day in a golfer’s life when you receive an invitation to play someplace special. The game is open to everyone, but not every course is, so when the door swings wide at a private club where you’ve always dreamt of teeing it up, you’ll do all you can to clear your schedule.
Hospitable invitations give us a sense of welcome. “Join us,” they say. “Come along.” These are words of inclusion, and they make us feel good.
Sadly, many people wonder if the door to heaven is closed to them. Would God really welcome the likes of me? Or is his apparent entryway only a trap door to religious confines—or worse, a place of eternal judgment?
Jesus is there, waiting. He is the exalted bridegroom, and he has invited you to his wedding.Let me say that I believe strongly in the sovereign will of God. How detailed this sovereignty gets is beyond my understanding, though I do agree that God is all-knowing, with an omniscience that applies to past, present, and future. God has been orchestrating his plan for my life (and yours!) since the beginning—which, if you can think about it without your brain exploding, is absolutely remarkable.
And yet, here is something else I see in Scripture: invitational language. In Joel this language says, “Come back to me.”
Jesus spoke conditionally: “If anyone would come after me…” So did the apostles: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” In his omniscience, God must know who will speak these words. Yet in his kindheartedness, he is saying, “Here’s your chance; take it.”
Because God’s words are living and active, it is correct to say that these calls are still being raised. Come to Jesus. Return to God.
This may be your first confession of need, your first turning, your first repentance. Jesus is there, waiting. He is the exalted bridegroom, and he has invited you to his wedding. Come, be his guest! Let today be the day of your salvation.
This may be your fiftieth return as one whose heart keeps wandering. Fall on his grace, somehow extended again to you! Shed the weight of your sins, forsake your adulterous diversions, give him your whole heart! “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:13).
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Jeff Hopper
September 2, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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