OUR LORD WHO SUMMONS

To be summoned is to receive a formal authoritative order to appear at a defined location at a defined time.

Psalm 50 verse 1 says that the Lord summoned the earth to its course by what He has spoken. It says it this way; 

The Mighty One, God, the LORD, has spoken, And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 

On a meta scale, the Lord's formal and authoritative word commands the perpetual  patterns and cycles of our universe.

On a small scale but equally important, a person can also be summoned to attend to an important event that is pivotal in the progression of the kingdom of God. An example of such is found in Acts 10 verse 22 that says this;

They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.”

Here, the gospel of kingdom of God was about to cross  the threshold from the realm of the nation of Israel into the world of the gentiles.  This critical moment in history required a formal summons that a Holy angel directed the gentile Cornelius to issue to the Apostle Peter.

When Peter heeded the summons, the gigantic history-making tidal wave of gentiles entering the kingdom of God began.

As for us believers, we are invited to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus in order to be saved. This invitation is not a summons but rather an entreaty by the Lord. 

However,  we who believe will receive a summons to the wedding banquet of the Lamb that is illustrated in a parable told by the Lord Jesus in Mathew 22 verse 2 - 10:

The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.

“Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests.

This sombre caution tells of people who did not heed the summons of the banquet of the King's Son. The king then instructed his servants to invite  other people to replace the ones who ignored the summons they received.

We, as people of God, must always be ready to obey the summons of our Lord. When He calls us to duty in intersession or in ministry to others or in any function in the kingdom, we must practice our ear to listen for summons and ready our feet to attend to the summons we receive from heaven lest we become used to  ignoring calls and invitations and summons from the Lord, and miss the final great summoning to the banquet that will be the commencement of the millennial reign of the Lamb of God.

Lord, teach us to hear your summons and to  follow you leading.

Amen.