His Loving Invitation Awaits Your Response

By Renee McIntosh

It’s a wonderful thing to receive an invitation!

Invitations communicate that we are wanted and chosen. However, there is none more special than when God is doing the inviting. Something amazing happens, when spending time in God’s word, we learn to respond to His invitations. A precious relationship develops with those daily choices.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes this on-going relationship with our “Inviting God”:

“In our meditation, we ponder the chosen text on the strength of the promise that it has something utterly personal to say to us for this day and for our Christian life, that it is not only God’s word for the Church, but also God’s word to us individually.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

God’s Quiet Invitation

We are called to a rhythm of life where we take time to stop, be still, and listen for that often hidden, quiet voice of invitation. When our work gets hard . . . circumstances become difficult . . . schedules get full . . . more than at any other time, we need to hear His voice for that day.

I find myself often coming back to Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30. He calls me back to that rhythm. He invites me (and you) with these encouraging words: “Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (The Message)

Ever since that first invitation that drew our heart into relationship with Him, God continues to invite us. Even when we might ignore His invitation, He keeps inviting us to experience the daily reminder of His presence, His leading, and His provision for what we need.

In Deuteronomy, we read God’s invitation to the Kings of Israel to experience His presence:

“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this Law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.” Deuteronomy 17:18-20

Their response to His invitation would involve three things:

• Writing out the Scriptures for themselves - a slow process of internalizing what God says in how to live and lead God’s people.
• Reading their hand-written words all the days of their lives - a constant reminder of the benefits of being a king who walked with God.
• Learning from the Scriptures - how to deal with pride and other issues of the heart.

God invites ME!

Through many years of walking with the Lord, I’ve discovered countless invitations from a God who loves me and continues to “woo” me back into a right and deeper relationship with Him. Since He knows where my heart might be straying at the moment, these God-given invitations have the potential to grow me into the character of Jesus as He calls me out of my “doing” and “striving.” His invitations have the power to refine what’s in my heart, shape me, and transform me as I respond to Him in my on-going spiritual journey.

If I sit long enough in God’s presence, I might hear Him inviting me to listen . . . to trust . . . to remember . . . to love . . . to forgive . . . or to rest.

Recently, I’ve been invited to WAIT. I find myself waiting for a son to return to the Lord . . . waiting for recovery from a recent back surgery . . . and waiting for clear direction. David’s words in Psalm 27:14 encourage me to “wait expectantly.” This verse tells me to be strong, to let my heart take courage, and to wait for the Lord.

Waiting expectantly demands my alertness to my present situation with an eye of watchfulness that God might do something even beyond what I could imagine. I wait for my God who is a sure and steadfast anchor of my soul. This anchor is built on the goodness of God’s character and gives me hope! I know that He is working on my behalf and will give, in His perfect timing, what I need most.

Consider what He might be saying to you today - what is His invitation to you?