The Invitation | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: The Invitation | Previous Challenge Entry
By Donna Martelli
01/11/24
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Some years back, a colleague, I will call her "Liz," asked me if I would go with her to a Billy Graham Crusade in our city. Her invitation shocked me. What made her think that a modern, sophisticated lady like myself would ever want to go to a Billy Graham Crusade? I gratefully declined but remained puzzled by her invitation. Why did she think I wanted or needed to go to that meeting?

Liz treated me very well and obviously respected me. However, because of her invitation, I figured she must be one of those radical Christian types. Whenever she worked nearby, "something" made me watch her every move. I observed how she treated others, handled objections, and generally noted her everyday behavior. It was impeccable. I remained aloof but aware.

Her world did not fit into mine. I did not know Liz was once like me, a modern type of lady with aspirations of significant personal gain. But she changed directions when she gave her life to Jesus. I wondered how that was even possible.

So then, I was like that old wineskin Jesus said cannot support new wine. My old life of living only for myself could not contain the spiritual freshness of the gospel. The way Liz was living was way beyond behavior modification; she had become a new creation. She desperately wanted me to come with her into a new life I did not even know existed.

Old ways must give way to new ways to accommodate them. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to understand this, much less accept it. Jesus, speaking to the religious people of His day, gave a natural explanation to illustrate the spiritual truth He was teaching. Hence the parable.

"Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins." Mark 2:21-22 (NLT)

The truth of the parable is relevant today. Rather than patching up a brittle, worn-out, and obsolete system (like my old life, living only for myself,) Jesus came to offer a new life imparted by faith in Him.

Sometime after Liz's famous invitation, I became a Christian, undoubtedly answering her prayers. I immediately fell in love with Jesus. I told all my friends about Him, but one by one, they left me. They remained in the old life I had come from, so my new life in Jesus no longer fit in with theirs.

Although I am now a citizen of the Kingdom of God, I am also a temporary resident in this world as His ambassador. I can see both worlds.

Jesus said that if someone is not born again, they cannot even see the Kingdom.

"Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.'" John 3:3 (NLT)

My job is to represent His Kingdom well as I live righteously. The Holy Spirit will open blind eyes so they can see this fabulous new wine. It is He Who will extend the ultimate invitation to them. If they accept it, they too will become new wineskins full of new wine.

That is how it happened for me. It is wise to check yourself to be sure that you are indeed a new wineskin, ready, willing, and able to contain and spill that new wine. The ultimate invitation is always open to anyone who will accept it.

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