An Open Invitation

God has given everyone an open invitation to be His child. He never said you had to be of a certain race, nationality, color, creed, denomination, sex or status. There's not one thing that would exclude you, but there is one thing that you do have to admit to being. That is a sinner who wants to be free of the weight it brings. If you are that person or knows someone who is, tell them about this special offer that never expires. It's an invitation that once it is accepted, the party will last forever!

People who don't want to accept this invitation will remain lost as far as their eternal life goes. Some people however are quite happy being in the world. It gives them the freedom to sin even though they don't realize it. It's a fact there will always be hard times in everyone's life, whether you're saved or not. God invites us to give Him our heavy loads of worry when these things happen. If not, you will never be able to carry them around alone.

Jesus invited everyone to be free of their burdens and give them to Him when He said, "For My yoke is wholesome, useful, good-not harsh, hard, sharp or pressing, but comfortable, gracious and pleasant and My burden is light and easy to be borne." Matt. 11:30

A yoke is a heavy wooden object that was put around the necks of oxen to pull the wagons and do the field work. Our yoke which are our worries is compared to this because they are heavy and burdensome around us too. Jesus said that to all who take His yoke will find it wholesome. It will be good for you. It's useful because it will take away the heaviness of the one you are trying to carry alone. His yoke is not harsh or hard or pressing, that is because He said it was light. It's the absence of the heavy one you may now have. He also describes it as comfortable. You won't notice any more heaviness in your heart. This makes it gracious and pleasant. He makes a point of telling all who take His yoke will find it easy to carry. Why on earth would anyone not want to take up that invitation? The weight and worries of this world are heavy and getting heavier all the time. But since Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, His yoke will always be as He described.

What do you have to do to be invited? God says that we first must admit Christ to come into our hearts and live there by confessing all our sins to Him. What if you don't? Well, then that's another story. It's not a choice that if you want to stay in the world that you can also gather up the rewards in the kingdom. God says, either you're in or you're out. I give you the choice of life and death, I would wish that you would choose life.

"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23

Being in the world is being in sin and being in sin will lead to death for eternity but He promises life everlasting when you recognize Who Christ is and receive Him.

When God invites you to receive His free gift of grace, He will begin to change you from the inside out. It's nothing you can do for yourself. God will anoint you and then the blessings will begin to come. It's important to declare the anointing and the blessings from God and then make up your mind to receive them.

God's grace isn't meant for us to merely put up with the heaviness of the world and the yoke it puts on us. On the contrary, His grace is meant to clean us up. He will start erasing away all the junk that weighs us down. He throws out our concerns, our anxieties or feelings of inadequacy. When we learn to praise Him and recognize what He has done for us, He gives us that yoke that Christ invited us to take. Life just starts to look better. Circumstances and situations will still arise, but we can see them in a whole new light. Our faith which was given through His grace starts to grow when we get closer to God. God loves all His children so much that He wants no one to hurt. He knows that when we compromise our lives we will never be free.

Christ died for us so that we could arise from the depths of pain and despair. God wishes that everyone would make up their mind to hand over all their "junk" and give it to Him. Be confident that you can do anything without feeling condemnation anymore.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Phil 4:8

God has given His children dominion over the earth, but right now Satan is doing a bang up job of leading all his followers straight to hell. We aren't included in that clique. Satan wants to tell us that the earth has dominion over us and he convinces alot of people that this is true.

We know this isn't true because God gives us an encouraging word when He said, "Little children, you are of God (you belong to Him) and have (already) defeated and overcome them (the agents of the antichrist), because He who lives in you, is greater, (mightier) than he who is in the world." 1 Jn. 4:14

When God promises us something, we can bank on it to be true. Once we are born again through Christ, we are now considered His little child, we belong to Him. We have defeated Satan's claim on our lives because Christ defeated him at Calvary. This can't be changed...ever. When Jesus said "It is finished" He meant just that. Once we are saved by faith through grace, then God's Holy Spirit lives in us and we become undefeatable! But for the man who doesn't beleive this will always be under Satan's heavy yoke of sin and condemnation. He will forever be helpless.

If Jesus already defeated Satan, then why would we ever want to hang onto the things that keep us bound in sin and death? It would be a shame to waste the gift that Christ paid already with His blood.

If you receive this invitation, just know that one day you will be invited to the biggest bridal feast that was ever given. You will be a prized guest when you get to sit with Christ in heaven. This is one invitation that is well worth giving up all material things in order to gain a life of eternity with Christ one day. I no longer fear dying because I know I don't belong on this earth and my real life is awaiting me all because I accepted God's invitation to join Him.

It's a wonderful thing to realize that the power of Christ within you is greater than the pressures of trouble around you. As Jesus said to Paul as He was walking on the water, "Come". It's informal but right to the point. He's telling you also to just, "Come". Come as you are!

If you haven't been invited yet, open up your heart and ask God to forgive you of all your sins. Tell Him you accept His Son Christ to be the Lord and Savior of your life and that you submit your ways to His ways. Let Him know that you believe that Christ died, and rose again to save you. If you mean it, you will get that invitation of eternal life. You will be born again! You can expect your invitation immediately after you've prayed this prayer!

Vivian Gordon - EzineArticles Expert Author

Vivian Gordon writes inspirational and spiritual articles in which to help strengthen the Believer's walk in Christ. They are often taken from today's point of view and used in conjunction with what God says about certain situations and how we are to handle them. There is always an answer for every problem. These articles are not all about asking God "why?" but in finding the answers.