Growing up I had a few besties who would invite me to their homes. We would inevitably play hard, entertain ourselves with made up skits, lounge around, and share our dreams.

An hour would turn into two, and two into four. Time seemed to stand still; however, our tummies were sure to remind us when it was time to eat.

It was common for me to accept an invitation to join the family around the dinner table. I have vivid memories of looking around the table soaking in the sense that I belonged.

Have you ever longed to belong in the family?

Maybe you are a college student living far from home and you long to sit at a friend’s family dinner table knowing you belong.

Maybe you live far away from your intermediate family and crave to experience the sense of belonging in a family gathering around the table.

Maybe you are single and would die for an invitation to sit for dinner with a family that accepts you as one of their own.

Did you know that there is an invitation for you to sit at the table?

There is a place at the table waiting just for you. It’s the table where the family of God gathers.

His word tells us that for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13), and those saved are adopted children of God (Romans 8:15-17).

When you are a child of God, you are family!

Jesus sees you, knows you, and longs for you to have a seat at His table. No matter where you are, where you have come from, or what you have done you are invited.

Once you accept His invitation for salvation you are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are reconciled and restored being recognized as part of the family (Romans 5:10, 1 Peter 5:10).

Once you become family, you are charged to partake in the family business.

“How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)

Because of your new identity and purpose, God sends you out to seek the lost-just as you were-to bring others to the table.

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

There are so many empty seats at the table and knowing Him as our Savior should compel us to fill them by making Him known.

It’s up to others to receive the invitation, but it’s up to us to seek the lost, love them, and share the truth with them, so that the truth may set them free (John 8:32).

While I covet the sense of belonging I have with my besties’ families, nothing compares to belonging in God’s family. At the age of 16, I accepted His invitation to be adopted by Christ, and I long for you to join me in the empty seat beside me.

If God is tugging at your heart to accept His invitation simply accept it by acknowledging your sin, receiving His forgiveness, and asking Him to save you. If you approach Him with all your heart and genuinely mean it, then my friend you are now seated beside me and a part of the family business!

He has sent us so we must Go and Tell! Others are desperate to belong!

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

PLEASE let someone know if you are now a part of God’s family! I would love to know so I can pray with you and help you in your next steps.

Glory be to God!