An Invitation To Dinner
By Kendra Osborn
“Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.”
Luke 7:36
Have you ever been in a corporate time of worship and it has felt spiritually dead? I sure have. In fact I just recently experienced this, and it was frustrating to say the least.
I would like to share with you today something the Lord laid on my heart recently. Before I do, I want to say this: I know God is all powerful, and He can show up any place and at any time without our asking. I know this can be a dangerous thing to say and may ruffle some feathers, but I am not implying that everyone who was present lacks (or lacked) the Holy Spirit. What I am saying is there are times when worship, whether it is the praise and worship or the message being spoken, can be spiritually dry or even dead.
As I was driving to work the Lord put this on my heart, and I began to meditate and pray about it. Why is this, Lord? Why are there so many in the body dead spiritually when we should be so full of life and overflowing with joy? When we come together as a body to worship our Creator and Lord, there should be a sense of liveliness; we should be so awake we are eager to worship together in one Spirit. It should be evident.
Then the Lord asked me the most wonderful question. A question for the church. Why don’t you invite me to the dinner table? What a wonderful yet simple question! Why don’t we invite Him to enter into our time and place of worship? We extend invitations all the time for our friends to come into our homes for dinner or to join us for worship. Doesn’t it feel good to be invited to join someone or a group of friends? Then why wouldn’t we invite Him to enter in and join us at the dinner table? He is our Friend, and I believe He desires to be invited to join His bride. I think He would like to hear us call on His name and ask Him to enter in. Today’s scripture tells us that Jesus not only accepted the Pharisee’s invitation to dinner, but he reclined at the table. It’s time we start inviting the Holy Spirit to join us to recline at the dinner table.
The Lord put Revelations 3:20 on my heart, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” This scripture often is referred to as Jesus standing at the door of our hearts, knocking to come into our lives. But I looked this scripture up in my study Bible and the notes said this scripture is a picture of the Lord Jesus seeking entrance into His own church for the purpose of renewed fellowship.
If we enter into a time of worship with an attitude of selfishness only seeking to gain something from Him, then we will experience a spiritual deadness. We must enter into our worship with our heart and mind seeking Him and striving to minister unto Him in our worship. Worship must never be about self gain, and we must always make room for Him to enter in. That will happen when we open our hearts and minds and invite the Holy Spirit to join us. Do we create an environment that invites the Holy Spirit, or do we foster an atmosphere that tells Him He is not welcome?
Our Lord Jesus is standing at the door waiting and knocking for us to invite Him in. I encourage each one of us to begin by calling on His name and inviting Him in. Can you imagine what might happen the next time you’re in a corporate time of worship and it began by calling on His name, listening for His voice, and inviting Him to enter? I believe we would experience a flood of the Holy Spirit.
Pray with me: Come, Holy Spirit, Come! Lord Jesus, I invite you to join me at the dinner table. Come and recline with me, Lord, and fill me up with Your Holy Spirit.
Forgive me for the times I have rushed into Your presence with a selfish motive and not taking the time to invite You to join me. I pray I would remember You, my Friend, and would invite You to enter in so I could minister unto You, seeking to please You and not myself.
I praise You for standing at the door, knocking, desiring to fellowship with me and longing to fill me up with all of You so that You may be glorified.
In the mighty name of Jesus, Yeshua, I pray. Amen!