October 1st, 25: The Banquet Invitation: Embracing Humility and Letting Go of Self-Interest

Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! It’s October 1st, and as we kick off a brand-new month, Hunter invites us to journey together through the Scriptures, one day at a time. In today’s episode, we dive into Zechariah chapters 10 to 12, Psalm 126, and Luke 14, uncovering powerful themes of restoration, humility, and the transforming invitation of God. Hunter reminds us that everyone is invited to God’s banquet—not because of our status or achievements, but because of His grace and our willingness to set aside self-interest and respond with humble gratitude. As we reflect on the passages, we’re encouraged to let go of what owns us, embrace the new life Christ offers, and become instruments of peace and hope in the world. So grab your Bible and settle in, because this episode is about opening your heart, being shaped by Scripture, and remembering just how deeply you are loved.

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

There's a party going on, and it seems like everyone's invited eventually. But those first recipients of the invitation valued their own lives above the master's, so they had all kinds of excuses. "I've got to tend to this. I just purchased that. This just happened to me." There's no lack of excuses offered. In the end, these folks were left out of the party by their own choosing and doing. But then—the poor, the crippled, the lame and blind—those with no self-interest to speak of, respond to the invitation. They had no excuses. They only had gratitude.

Right on the heels of this story, Luke tells us that there were crowds following Jesus. But Jesus tests these crowds. It seems that they too were there because of their own self-interests. Jesus had just finished telling the story of people who had gotten caught up in pursuing their own interests over God. Now He has a whole crowd upon Him. And He tells them that if their following Him is about self-promotion, then they've got Him all wrong.

One has to hate oneself, He says, and one's own life. Like the poor, blind, crippled, lame beggar—these people in the story, they hate their lives. They came to the banquet grateful that they were being invited to a new kind of life, that they were being seated at a table and honored by the Master. This kind of humility is the only requirement to be a disciple and have a seat at the table of God. So Jesus turns around and tells this large crowd of people who are pursuing their own self-interests: You cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own—your selfish ambition, your own attempts to save yourself, your pasts, your addictions, your pride, your arrogance, your... You've got to give up everything you own and hate it. And when you do that, the power to give up everything that owns you will be yours.

There's so much that owns us—our need to be recognized, our pride, arrogance, our past, our shame. These things can own us. But Jesus can set us free. He invites us to the table. He wants us to recognize that indeed, we are poor and blind and miserable and beggars. But we've been invited to the banquet. When we respond and come to his table, all that once owned us will be no more. We will be seated with him at his banquet. We will be made new.

May we recognize who we are apart from him. There is an invitation to come though, to Him at his table, and experience who you are in Him. And that's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's a prayer that I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, my son. And that's a prayer that I have for you. May it be so.