eMeditation on the Bible
 
Question: What does spiritual growth through a relationship with God require of us?
 
Story (Luke 14:16-24)
After Jesus explained that the nature of the spiritual life which comes from a relationship with God is a gradual process of spiritual growth and development, he told a story:
 
A certain man was preparing a banquet. He invited many guests, telling them to “save the date.” When the day of the feast came, he sent his servant to those he had invited. The servant told them, “COME! Everything is ready now.” But they all began to make excuses for why they did not have time to attend. The first one said, “I recently bought a field. I need to go and inspect it. Please excuse me.” Another said, ‘I recently bought 10 cows. I need to examine them. Please excuse me.” Still another said, “I recently got married, so I cannot come.”
 
The servant went back to his employer and reported what the guests had said. Then the man who had invited the guests became upset. He ordered his servant, “Go quickly to the neighborhood where poor people live and bring in the poor, those who can’t walk and the blind and disabled.”  
 
The servant did this and reported to his employer, “Sir, what you ordered has been done. But there is still room at the tables.” Then the man told his servant, “Go to the rural areas and bring those people to the banquet. The people I invited first were too busy to get a taste of my dinner. But I want my house to be full.”

Cultural Background
In ancient times invitations to dinner at someone’s home was a sign of friendship. In the Bible, stories about banquets are lessons about our relationship with God.
 
General Principle
In this story, Jesus teaches us that to begin and develop a relationship with God we need to prioritize our relationship with God. The people in the story who were too busy to attend the banquet symbolize people who know they are invited into a relationship with God but allow their activities, responsibilities, pressures, and goals in life to stop them from finding the time to develop that relationship and grow spiritually. Spiritual growth requires making our relationship with God so important that we organize our lives in a way that creates time for God as well as time to love and serve God by loving and serving others. We cannot develop a relationship with God if everything else in our life is more important than God.
 
Personal Application
To prioritize your relationship with God:  
(1) Ask God for forgiveness for the times you have not prioritized your relationship with God.
(2) Take time to talk to God regularly about your life, thanking God for the good things in your life and asking God for strength and wisdom for the challenges of living. This is called prayer.  
(3) Read and meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus in the Bible and other sources.  
(4) Think about the changes that you need to make in your attitudes and behaviors in order to more fully honor and please God.  
(5) Become friends with other followers of Jesus when you find them.  
(6) Worship God in a small group or church, if possible.  
(7) Think about the people with various types of needs that God has brought into your life and talk to God about how you can love and serve them.