Imagine you are invited to a king's wedding. Wouldn't that be great? Surely you would be overjoyed! Your immediate thought would probably be: "Oh, what should I wear to this?" Likely, your parents would have to first buy you festive clothing so you could attend the royal wedding.
But now read the following story, and you will be amazed!
There was a king who was preparing the wedding for his son. He sent his servants to invite the nobles of his land. But: They did not want to come. "It must be a misunderstanding, otherwise they would come," the king must have thought. Again he sent other servants to repeat the invitation to the wedding. They said to those invited: "Everything is ready, come to the wedding!" Yet how odd. One said, "I cannot at the moment, I need to work on my field." The next one also turned down: "I need to quickly finalize an urgent business." Everyone found an excuse and excused themselves. Some even got so angry that they struck and killed the king's messengers! Then the king became angry about these ungrateful, cruel people and punished them.
Then the king called his servants again and gave them a new command: "The wedding feast is indeed prepared, but the invited were not worthy. So go into the streets and alleys, and invite everyone you find!"
What a task! The servants rushed in all directions. Everyone, whether poor or rich, old or young, all were invited to the royal wedding.
Now people were flocking to the palace: grandmothers, disabled people, lonely people, dads, and many, many children. What a cheer it must have been! But surely some wondered, "Do my clothes fit for such a grand feast?" Many certainly put on their best clothes.
Now the big surprise comes: At the entrance of the palace, everyone received a nice wedding garment from the king himself. Their own clothes could be put aside, as everyone was given a beautiful garment especcialy for the wedding feast. Only dressed with this garment people were allowed to enter the wedding hall.
Yet there was one who said to himself: "My own garment is good enough, I don't need one that I got as a gift." And so, he went in with his own garment.
When the hall was full and every seat taken, it suddenly became quiet. The king came in. He looked at the long rows of guests with joy. The guests had put on the garments which they recieved as gifts. However - and now it became so quiet that one almost didn't dare to breathe - his gaze fell on the one who had refused to put on the wedding garment. "Friend, how did you come in here without having a wedding garment on?" the king's voice echoed through the hall. The man had nothing to say to this. He was bound by the servants and taken to prison.
This story is one of many found in the Bible. It is reported to us in Matthew 22.
The Lord Jesus told them to a group of people to make some very important things clear. But imagine: This story still has something to say to every person today. So pay close attention!
God, the Creator of the world, also invites you to celebrate the wedding feast with Him. We cannot imagine how beautiful it is with God. There, there is simply no sadness like on this earth. No sickness, no death, no strife, no injustice! There is truly peace, joy and security. Would you like to be there one day?
But do you already have the wedding garment for Heaven? You have already done so many evil things: lying, quarrelling, envy, disobedience to God's Word - you will not enter Heaven in these garments! Yet, God wants to give you a new, clean garment. You have already heard that his Son, Jesus Christ, became human and died in our place for all the evil. That's why everyone can receive forgiveness and eternal life as a gift.
Do you want this? Sincerely confess your sins to God, if you have not done so yet. Then thank Him that the Lord Jesus has made everything good for you. Thank Him for the new garment that He has put on you!
With this, something completely new begins. God has become your Father. You are His child. You can tell Him everything you experience. He rejoices every time you pray to Him. And also read regularly in the Bible, so that you can know this wonderful God better.
