The Invitation Still Stands
There he was. Right in front of me. Hobbling with his cane. As he shuffled forward I instantly felt prompted to pray for him.
He stopped right in front of me and waved to say hello.
We struck up conversation and he shared with me that he has a shattered knee and is on his way to the states to have surgery to get it fixed.
As a war veteran he spent a lot of time crawling on his knees and at his age now, they have completely deteriorated. His left knee hardly bends at all.
As we talked, I heard the Lord say, “I want to heal him”.
When he asked what I do for a living, he immediately made sure I knew he was an atheist and does not believe in God.
Here’s my chance…
“Let me tell you about the God I believe in and how he is pursuing you, J.
I know God can heal you and I believe He wants to do that right now. Can I pray for you and your knee?”
“No”, he responded. “But you have such a good aura”, he said.
“It’s not aura, J. It’s the Holy Spirit.”
He started to cry. He said when you have seen as much as he has, it’s hard to have faith and hope in this world.
Luckily, our hope isn’t in the world!
We continued in conversation as he shared more of his life stories.
I listened. I acknowledged his pain. I asked again if I could pray for him. He declined so I spoke a blessing over him as I left to board my flight.
Walking away I wondered why God highlighted so strongly that He wanted to heal this man if he was only going to reject him.
That’s when it hit me: UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. It doesn’t shy away from rejection. It doesn’t fear rejection. It loves…regardless. It continues to pursue, no matter what the cost. God’s love is an invitation. Always. He is not just standing at the door and knocking. He is running after His kids. He wants to reclaim every one of them to their rightful place in the Kingdom of God. The invitation to come home is for all of us. It’s what we were created for. It’s who we were created for.
The invitation still stands, J. When you’re ready, Jesus is there. Come on home.
