Many Are Called, Few Are Chosen

For quite some time, God has been calling me to study Matthew 22:1-14, The Parable of the Wedding Banquet. Those who were originally invited to the banquet by the king refused to come, so the king sent out his servants to extend the invitation to anyone they could find. There was one guest who came but was not wearing the proper clothing. As a result, he was kicked out. The parable ends with Jesus saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

These words remained at the forefront of my mind, but I kept putting off taking the time to learn more. I should know by now that ignoring what God has put in front of me does not make it go away. It only causes me to delay or even forfeit what God wants to do in my life. Finally, I took the time to truly study by reading and watching several videos to get a better understanding.

I am sure most if not all of us have heard that many are called but few are chosen. I realized that I had no idea what it truly meant. I would always think to myself “Well if you’re called, doesn’t that mean you’re chosen?” I figured since I believed that God called me to do something, that automatically meant that I was chosen. I was wrong. Being called is an invitation to walk in full relationship with Jesus.

I may be taking a bit of a lazy approach with this, but rather than get deep into the meaning of the scripture, I think I should encourage you to do the work and study it for yourself. There is so much more that needs to be understood, and it will only come by taking the time to study. There are articles and videos that I found helpful, and I will provide a couple of them below. I found these helpful because of their simplicity.

https://endofthematter.com/2020/08/what-does-many-are-called-few-are-chosen-mean-matthew-221-14/

https://activechristianity.org/many-are-called-but-few-are-chosen-what-does-that-mean-matthew-22-14

I thought about what being called and chosen means for my life. I have always thought of myself as a dreamer. I never considered that my dreams had any real meaning because they seemed so far-fetched from what I was experiencing in my “real life.” In the last couple of years though, as I have accepted the call to walk in a full relationship, God has revealed that what I previously believed were just daydreams were visions He gave me about the life that He wants me to have. Now I understand that this human existence that I was calling “real life” is not as “real” as I thought it was.

In case I’m about to lose some of you here, hang in there and I will explain. If we believe in God, we accept that there is an unseen spiritual realm. Though it is unseen, that is our real life. As human beings and believers, there are three parts that make us who we are. We have our physical human body, a soul which is made up of our mind, will, and emotions, and then we have the Holy Spirit that lives in us. When Jesus left the earth, He explained that unless He goes away, the Advocate (Holy Spirit) will not come. God’s Spirit within us is what guides us to the truth.

While many are called, few will accept that call and become the chosen ones. Accepting the call means that our human experience is not our own and we no longer live according to the human flesh or soul. We live according to The Spirit. While we understand that we will not reach absolute perfection, it does not keep us from doing our best to walk a perfect path. Our goal is to become like Jesus.

There was the man who came to the banquet without the proper clothing. To me, this represents people who go through life pretending to walk the righteous path in their public life while privately rejecting God’s plan. They have been called but are resistant to answer due to fear. Christianity is not for cowards. They do not realize that people who cannot get over or remain stuck in their past are not necessary for their future.

They go through life looking for shortcuts but still want to attend the banquet. It does not work that way. Their efforts will fail, and they will be kicked out. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. The beauty of this journey is that once we push through the fear, we realize that the judgment of others does not matter. What matters is being in right relationship with God so that we can be amongst those who are chosen. Anytime we walk in the fullness of who God created us to be, it will make others uncomfortable.

Because I love so many of Joyce Meyer’s quotes, I chose a few to share that resonated with me on this topic.

“You can have charisma that will get you somewhere but not enough character to keep you there.”

“Christianity is not a program for behavior modification. Christianity is falling in love with Jesus and focusing on him until you become like him.”

“Let God do what He’s doing in your life and stop fighting Him. The more you fight, the longer it’s going to take. The quicker you give in, the quicker you’ll get to where you want to be.”

Understanding this has helped me to continue to learn what it means for me when I publicly declare “I want everything God has for me.” I must do everything that God guides me to do despite any fear that I will certainly feel about what others will think or say. Those who are chosen have accepted the call to walk the narrow path which means that our lives will no longer look like the lives of many or even most of the people around us. Still, we must stay focused and trust in God’s plan for our lives.

Life will have its difficulties and we will not be perfect, but there is a way to walk in victory 100% of the time. The narrow path allows us to navigate the tough times, knowing that God’s plan for our life is good. When we rest on God’s promises, we can be assured of this. As I write these posts to share with you, I know that they will also serve continually as a reminder for me when those tough times come.

God has extended the call to us all, but we must be properly clothed to be chosen. It is not an opportunity to say to anyone “I’m better than you” but an opportunity to walk humbly in God’s presence and have the courage to reject so many of the things that the world would like for us to believe is what a good life looks like. I do not care what anyone thinks. I want to walk with the chosen.

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