"Invitation.............."

”For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”… Isaiah 30:15

The last words of the Bible are an open invitation from “the Spirit and the bride” unto “whomsoever will”. Let him that heareth and him that is athirst “come”. A warning is then extended unto any who would add or take away from those things which are written therein; and then, after giving promise of His return, ends with the hope of God’s grace being accepted by all. Christianity, down through the years, has taken the Book and divided itself into multiple extrapolations, claiming unity only in its central focus on Christ. In the name of whatever harmony that might bring to us, might I suggest that where such agreement leaves us in our faith can be boiled down to this finality of the Word, our journey a matter of enrollment, distance covered in-between, and judgment on the other end. Grace is a pardon encompassing forgiveness and patience, confirmation of our possessing it always left in His hands, new birth establishing His throne within us, not just an appointment awaiting us at some future date. Jacob, in the Old Testament, is an illustration of humanity. We are all “supplanters” in one way or another in our stumble down the path. The only question is: who holds our reins? Indeed, if there is any difference at all between me and this trickster, it is merely in Calvary separating us as to the positioning of the Creator’s “anchor-line”. The “hook” now rests in my “belly”. In his case, it was an external “lure”, a reality known from connections found here and there, physical points where angels ascended and descended, worthy of constructing an altar and calling to him “Return! Return!” His declaration of “Surely God is in this place and I did not know”, though, takes me to where Jesus asks Philip “Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me?” and gives me pause. Too many, it seems, are content with a “checklist”, a doctrinal “pass” that one day will permit passage through the Pearly Gates, settling all accounts as they go, regular visits to His inner oasis not a popular subject in most pulpits…..