Happy Memorial Day!  How will your family celebrate?  Will you have a quiet day off with your family, relaxing?  Or will you attend a party or backyard barbeque?  With graduation weekend behind us, we will celebrate Memorial Day, and the sacrifices others have made for our freedom, quietly at home.  We’ve had our fair share of parties this weekend.  Between our son and all of his friends graduating, we’ve had multiple parties to attend each day for the past three days.
Some of the parties were like a family reunion because we knew almost everyone there.  Those were our favorites to attend, because we not only knew the graduate and his or her family, but we also knew the extended family and friends who attended.  Other parties were a little less exciting to attend because we hardly knew anyone.  Let’s face it; parties are much more fun when you know everyone.
When a lost soul comes to the Lord, we celebrate [Luke 15:4-32].  All of heaven rejoices when a lost son is found.  Heaven celebrates [Isaiah 62:5, 1 Corinthians 13:6].  If heaven celebrates when the lost are found, parties must be a regular occurrence there.  Wouldn’t it be more fun to celebrate with people you know instead of those you don’t?  Well, it’s time to get busy sending out party invitations.  Jesus is counting on us to create the guest list [Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8Will you be celebrating with a barbeque or a party of some sort?].  You don’t want the people you know and love to miss the celebration.  You don’t want them to live life never having been invited to the greatest party of all time.  After all, the party in heaven will be THE party to attend.  Will your friends and loved ones miss it?  Will they be standing outside the door saying they didn’t know anything about it [Revelation 3:20].  As believers, we will be part of the greatest celebration ever and we’re encouraged and even commanded to invite everyone to join us.  Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”  Who are you inviting to be there with you?  Memorial Day celebrates those who have lost their lives in a sacrificial way for others.  Jesus gave His life freely so that you and the rest of the world may have abundant life [John 3:16, John 10:10].It’s not too late to start inviting people now.  What will you do today to ensure those you love will be there with you?