God Extends His Invitation To All - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 11:18b,

“So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

Here in our country, we live in a day of an entitlement mentality. We think in terms of having certain rights and equal access to opportunities. Politicians these days talk of the rights of “every American to have access to affordable medical care”, etc. You get the drift. If anyone has a shot at something, we ought to as well.

Sometimes I think this mentality has had an impact on our appreciation and gratitude for what God has done for us. A full understanding and perspective on the level of the importance of our access to the promises of God to Abraham may have been diminished with an entitlement mentality. So much so, that when we Gentiles of today read the above, our thought might be a less than appreciative one, “Gee, that’s big of you to say so… ‘even the Gentiles…’!”

And yet, the apostle Paul reminds us that God has every right to do whatever he wants with anyone. As we read in Romans 9:15-18, “He [God] says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” In this passage Paul is making the point that God has chosen that all those who embrace him in faith, he accepts, and those who don’t will be condemned. But the point is made very well that God can choose whomever he wants.

Did God have to extend his invitation to Gentiles? Did he have to extend an invitation to anyone for that matter? The more I think of such things, the greater I find my appreciation, gratitude, and love grow for our God who has decided to extend his invitation even to me!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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