It was 1989 when I loaded up my family of five, along with all of our earthly belongings after selling our home in San Antonio (9th largest city in the US at that time)...and we moved to NE Texas and settled in to a small farming/ranching community with a population of 250 people where I began to pastor my first church.

I thought...my upbringing as an “Army Brat’ along with the associated nomadic lifestyle that came with it.... had prepared me for such a move; but needless to say ...it was the ‘mother of all culture shocks’ as we readjusted and learned what it was like to live in such a small rural farming community. Personally speaking...I fell in love with that setting. And of the many things I came to learn about farmers and ranchers, one of those was watching the many ‘mundane’ responsibilities they carried out on a daily basis in order to earn their livelihood, that benefits the rest of us. There was one particular ‘chore’ the ranchers had that stood out to me during our first winter up there, which was an unusually cold and brutal one, that included ice/snow...and single digit temps that lasted for days.

Livestock need to drink water on a daily basis; and with freezing temps like that area was experiencing that first winter we were there...one can see why the stock ponds and water tanks would freeze over nightly; which meant the ranchers had to be out early with sledgehammers and axes to break up...the frozen ice on the surface of the water source in order for the cattle to drink and stay alive. I remember the first time I heard one of our neighbors explain to me how this was just something they needed to do, I was incredulous to think of having to perform such a ‘daily duty’, asking....”seriously?” And I also remember the laughing response I got as they were curious to know how I thought the cattle would drink otherwise?

As long as the cold winds blew, and the sub-freezing temperatures remained, the ranchers needed to break up the hard frozen ice on the water sources on a daily basis...if they wanted to keep their livestock alive. So with that ‘word picture’ in place...please take your time as you pour over these verses that come straight out of our beloved Bibles....

“All of us like sheep have gone astray (wandered off); we have turned to our...own ways...” (Isa. 53:6)

“We must pay closer attention therefore to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.” (Heb. 2:1)

“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb. 3:12-13)

“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold (wax hard)....as it was in the days of Noah...” – Jesus (Matt. 24:12,37-38; Gen. 6) (Take a moment with that one, please)

“Jesus spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem...and because ‘they thought’ ...the kingdom of God would appear immediately...” (Luke 19:11). You might want to underline ‘because they thought’...and take a moment or two with that passage also.

He goes on with that parable, talking about a ‘certain nobleman who went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom...”. He called 10 servants, gave them some funds and told them to ‘occupy till I come’ (or ‘do business’). “But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him saying, ‘we will not have this man reign/rule over us.’ (12-14)

Jesus asked one time: “Why do you call Me... ‘Lord’...and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). “If you love me...you’ll do what I say (keep my commandments...)” (John 14:15)

Another parable Jesus shared in explaining the ‘kingdom of heaven’...talked about a ‘certain king who arranged a marriage for his son...and he sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding...and they were not willing to come.’ (Matt. 22:2-3). He then sent out more servants to tell those who were invited: “See...I have prepared my dinner...all things are ready...Come to the wedding.” (4)...

“But they made light of it and went...their own way...” (5). Would you underline ‘their own way’, please?

We’re now going to revisit Haggai where we spent some time this past week, and please make note of the multiple times God used the word: ‘consider’... like ‘consider...your ways’ (Hag. 1:5, 2:15, 18). To ‘consider’ means to ‘think carefully’. And if you would, you might highlight 2:17 where the Lord admits: “I struck you... with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands...yet...you did not turn to Me.” He even exhorts them to write it down and make note of this date that I am telling you to ‘consider it’ (2:18).

So back now to our parable in Matt. 22, and we read how the ‘king was furious’...and he ‘sent out his armies to destroy...” (7). We know who the ‘destroyer’ is, and you might also jot down and then read through later, Joel 2. And we also know who the king was angry with – those who ‘made light of it and went their own way....offering excuses as to why they could not come’.

Now allow me to just ‘connect some more pieces’ here from multiple passages, and be forewarned, I’m going a little longer today. Remember those folks, and ‘because they thought...the kingdom of God was about to appear’? (Luke 19:11)...let’s look at John 5:39-40, where Jesus confronted some religious leaders and told them: “You think...you have eternal life...but you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life...”

So this word ‘consider’ means to ‘think carefully’...and I would suggest one of the great missteps and dangers facing our churches today...is the number of sincere people who ‘think...they have eternal life’...and are wrong. I'm sorry, but I don’t know how else to state that.

Remember Sampson...who ‘thought’ the Spirit of God was still on him? He was sorely mistaken (Judges 16:20). Then, there was Saul who ‘thought’...he had done all that God had commanded him, to which he was rebuked by Samuel for being wrong (1 Sam. 15:13-15).

So it’s interesting that Jesus would have told the ‘church crowd’ that they ‘think...they have eternal life...’ (and were wrong -John 5:39). How offended would church folks today be... if anyone suggested such a thing? Could it be the reason for that... is we may have a distorted understanding as to what ‘eternal life’ really is, maybe? How many sincere professing believers equate ‘eternal life’ with being some golden ticket that ensures you go to heaven after you die and live happily ever after with Jesus?

Jesus plainly tells us what eternal life is in John 17:3 where we hear His prayer to the Father: “This...is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Yes, it is imperative that we ‘know Jesus’; but even more importantly...does He know us? What were those people who had done so many great things in His name told on that day when it mattered most? “Depart from me...you who continue to practice sin...I never knew you.” (Matt. 7:23). They probably 'thought'... otherwise.

Jesus never shied away from ‘telling it like it was’...like when He told some other folks: “You are not My sheep...” (John 10:26; John 8:44)

He goes on: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them...and they follow Me.” (10:27)

And here we are again ...back talking about ‘sheep’...who have a tendency to ‘wander off’ or...’go astray’, like Isaiah pointed out (53:6).

No wonder Paul encourages us to: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail the test.” ( 2 Cor. 13:5)

"Break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the Lord..." (Hosea 10:12)