I can’t do this but I will say YES …

But he (Jesus) said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ” (Luke 14:16–24)

My dad gave a title to those who made excuses for not doing much. He called them “Can’t men” as he urged us to not be like that. If asked to do a new thing, or a chore that we didn’t like, we were told to give it our best effort without making excuses.

Jesus did the same with this illustration of what some will do when invited by the Holy Spirit to feast with Jesus in the kingdom of God. This is the same invitation as being invited to trust Him for eternal life, the same invitation to trust Him to forgive their sin and make them His own. They didn’t want to do it and all their excuses were related to running their own lives. As the OT says, this is His definition of sin:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

The first part is like Sinatra’s song: “I will do it my way.” The second part gives the cure for sin; God put all of it on Jesus and He got what our sin deserves — death. This is why Jesus can make this startling statement: 

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)

Becoming a Christian is entrance into living another way, feasting on what God provides rather than relying on our own desires, wants, or even our abilities. This transformation is both instant and a process. We are made into a child of God and adopted into His family, but it takes time to learn how to live like what we already are.

It is something like being drafted into the army; instantly a soldier, but boot camp and the front lines bring out the skills and teach us how to rely on the Lord instead of trying to do it my way. This involves falling in the mud and picking myself up — over and over again. It also works backwards. Instead of getting easier, the training never lets up and in some ways gets more difficult.

Someone once gave the excuse that he “could become a Christian any time I want” but I told him the more he said NO the less he would be invited. He was one of those “Can’t Man” types that made excuses to have his own way the rest of his life.

Jesus, all of this humbles me. Salvation is an amazing miracle of grace, an invitation to join You in an eternal family and an eternal feast. You worked in me such a hunger that when the invite came, saying YES seemed like the only decision. Amen.