Showing the Proper Respect

   There are a lot of people mentioned in today's reading from Matthew 22.

   First there are the invited guests:

   "He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn't come!"

   They had a personal invitation to the banquet.

   Then there were those who were in the right place at the right time:

   "The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad," 

   They got the chance to feast also.

   Then there were those who came:

   "And so the banquet was on—every place filled."

   Then there was one who came but who did not respect the occasion or the one who made the feast available:

   "When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn't properly dressed."

   Where do I fit into this whole story?

   When God issues an invitation to serve, to care, or just to sit and listen, do I disrespect that offer by my indifference or selfishness? Am I too busy to make the effort, or just don't care about the feast or the one who sets it?

   If I do decide to come, do I show the proper respect for the occasion, or the feast preparer, by at least showing up with the proper motives, leaving the selfish part behind?

   In short, do I show up because I want to honor those others who are in that part of the story, or do I sit and eat because I see it as an opportunity for personal gain?

   It is not enough to show up, although that is the first important part, I need to get myself out of the way.

   Even if I show up to read, study, meditate and pray in the beginning of each day, when I treat the time as just a prelude to writing a blog, forgetting what I have written as I live that day, I show no respect for what God has revealed. It is just so many words.

   God, help me to respect the invitation and respect what You show to me, by living it out today.