Sweet Invitation

Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!

Matthew 4:19

I love receiving personal invitations to events. When I see words like “Please join us,” I want to respond immediately. Whenever possible, I try to honor the person who invited me and attend.

In this verse from Matthew, Jesus was recruiting His disciples with an invitation to “come.” God has never stopped inviting people to follow Him. His followers are asked to carry His invitation with them and extend it to others—first to believe in Him and then to grow in Him. Did anyone’s invitation initiate your faith journey?

Recently my friend Donna told me that she did not realize the significance of receiving an invitation until a friend personally invited her to a Bible study with some other moms whose children attended the same school as her young children. She said, “I had heard about it, but I never would have just walked in. It was only because she personally invited me that I decided to go.” It was so surprising to me to hear someone like her—one of those “very beautiful people”—say how grateful she was to receive an invitation. The Bible study has been such a blessing in her life, and she is growing in her love for the Lord.

Jesus is our model and our guide. He modeled the gift of offering an invitation by saying, “Come,” and He invites us to follow Him and fish for people. We really do need each other, not only to accomplish His work but for relationship too. Someone may need an invitation today, and you may be the ideal person to offer it.

Follow Jesus and fish for people! Always be ready to extend an invitation to someone who needs to hear about Him. That’s why I started Sweet Monday in my home. I always have something sweet, simple, and fun to invite women to, no shoestrings attached. They do not have to do one thing—just come.