Story About a Big Dinner Party

¹⁵One of the men sitting at the table with Jesus heard these things. The man said to Jesus, "The people that eat a meal in God's kingdom will be very happy!" ¹⁶Jesus said to him, "A man gave a big dinner. The man invited many people. ¹⁷When it was time to eat, the man sent his servant to tell the guests, 'Come! The food is ready!' ¹⁸But all the guests said they could not come. Each man made an excuse. The first man said, 'I have just bought a field, so I must go look at it. Please excuse me.' ¹⁹Another man said, 'I have just bought five pairs of work animals; I must go and try them. Please excuse me.' ²⁰A third man said, 'I just got married; I can't come.' ²¹So the servant returned. He told his master what had happened. Then the master became angry and said, 'Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor people, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.' ²²Later the servant said to him, 'Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.' ²³The master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full! ²⁴None of those people that I invited first will ever eat with me!'"

You Must First Plan

²⁵Many people were traveling with Jesus. Jesus said to the people, ²⁶"If a person comes to me, but loves his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters more than he loves me, then that person cannot be my follower. A person must love me more than he loves anything--even his own life! ²⁷If a person will not carry the cross (suffering) that is given to him when he follows me, then that person cannot be my follower. ²⁸If you wanted to build a building, you would first sit down and decide how much it would cost. You must see if you have enough money to finish the job. ²⁹If you don't do that, you might begin the work, but you would not be able to finish. And if you could not finish it, then all the people watching would laugh at you. ³⁰They would say, 'This man began to build, but he was not able to finish!' ³¹"If a king is going to fight against another king, first he will sit down and plan. If the king has only 10,000 men, he will plan to see if he is able to defeat the other king that has 20,000 men. ³²If he cannot defeat the other king, then he will send some men to speak to the other king and ask for peace. ³³In the same way, all of you [must first plan]. You must leave everything you have to follow me. If you don't, you cannot be my follower!

Don't Lose Your Influence

³⁴"Salt is a good thing. But if the salt loses its salty taste, then it is worth nothing. You can't make it salty again. ³⁵You can't even use it for soil or for plant food. People throw it away. "You people that hear me, listen!"