God's Will (a diagram)

I have had many posts about man's will and free will, but it is important also to remember to dicuss God's Will. God's will is very clear in the Bible, but what is interesting is that describing it, topics always come in what I call the law of twos. See here for an explanation of the meaning of the number 2.

Secondary Bible Themes 10 - Yoke(s)

Here is a list of themes in the Bible. One of those themes is that of the Yoke. The yoke is defined as: "a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull."



In the Old Testament, the yoke is used figuratively for severe bondage, or affliction, or subjection ( Leviticus 26:13 ; 1 Kings 12:4 ; Isaiah 47:6 ; Lamentations 1:14 ;3:27 ). Jeremiah speaks of the Israelites being under the yokes of Egypt, Babylon, and Yahweh. Jeremiah 2 explains that we need to be yoked in Gods kingdom. After all, the Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom. We are citizens, but also subjects.

In the New Testament, the word yoke is also used to get across the idea of servanthood ( Matthew 11:29 Matthew 11:30; Acts 15:10 ; Galatians 5:1 ).
Being yoked under god means we are under his authority and so responsible to him. Yes, the Gospel sets us free, but it is a freedom from sin, not free to do what ever you want. Pastors, stoles represent this yoke, to show they are servants of God. However, for comfort, Jesus does tell us that his yoke is easy and hos burden is light" for us (Matthew 11:30).

People often quote 2 Corinthians 6:14 to say we shouldn't associate with or be friends with unbelievers. "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?"

This doesn't mean to isolate ourselves, but to not be under same authority, tied together going same direction with same purpose.

Secondary Bible Themes 9 - Flock, Sheep, Shepherd

Here is a list of themes in the Bible. One of these is shepherds and their flocks of sheep. From the beginning, farmers kept animals, so this would be a well known analogy.


"Now Abel was a keeper of sheep..." -Genesis 4:2. Being a shepherd is one of the oldest professions in the world. Also sheep are one of the oldest sacrifices to God.  Able's sacrifice of one of those sheep was pleasing to God.

Sheep was one of the five animals that were part of the Old Covenant. The sheep was the Passover sacrifice whose blood saved the Hebrews.

Also forerunners, or types, of Christ were shepherds.  Moses was a shepherd after he left Egypt. David was a shepherd before becoming king.  That is why he wrote the 23rd Psalm about God being our Shepherd. 

Jesus conforms this in the New Testament,  that he is the Good Shepherd in the parable of the lost sheep. Matthew 25:31-46 says we are God's sheep.

During the Ascention, Jesus tells Peter to tend sheep, commissioning pastors as his undershepherds. In fact,  the word pastor means shepherd.

The Gospels describe Jesus's death on the cross (during passover) as him being our Passover lamb,  whose blood over us s us from death. Revelation is full of language calling Jesus the lamb who was slain.

Even though Jesus was our Shepherd,  he became a sheep to die as the sacrifice for us, so that we didn’t have to.

In fact,
Genesis 22: A lamb for one man
Exodus 12: A lamb for a family
Leviticus 16: A lamb for the nation
John 1: A lamb for the whole world
Revelation 5: A lamb ruling the world

Secondary Bible Themes 8 - Trees

Here is a list of themes in the Bible.One of them is trees. Trees in general represent a connection or intersection between heaven and earth. They extend their branches, leaves, and needles upward and there very shape is an arrow pointing to heaven. At the same time, however, they are firmly and deeply rooted in the earth below. This is why a tree Christmas Tree is a symbol used at Christmas, when the divine became human. Planting a tree was even a form of worship in ancient times before the covenant with God (Genesis 21:33, Deuteronomy 16:21).

Genesis 1:11 Describes a Garden of Eden full of trees. Verse 2:18 explains that the vegetation yields food with sources of running water and verse 9 explains that there are two trees on streams specifically named, which are tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. One brings protection, life, comfort, grace, and community as people gather to eat. The other casts a shadow of death, sorrow, and hardship.

Proverbs likens good things to the tree of life, such as Wisdom (11:30), A desire fulfilled (13:12), and a gentle tongue (15:4). Psalm 1:3 states that the blessed man is like a healthful tree, planted by streams of water. He yields fruit, has leaves that don't whither, and is always prosperous. This language of a man being a tree that bears fruit is continued throughout the Bible. Good tree bears good fruit bad trees bear bad fruit. There is the Fruit of the spirit and Sanctification fruit.

This brings to mind the imagery of the Garden of Eden. Referring to the blessed man, restore what Adam lost. While we all aspire and work toward this, the ultimate fulfillment of this blessed man is Jesus. This is explained in Jeremiah 17:7-10, which sounds a lot like the Psalm, but with the addition that our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick, showing that we are not the perfect fulfillment of the good tree.

Continuing the theme of Heaven being like Eden restored, in Chapter 47, Ezekiel discusses his vision of a massive river lowing east out of the temple of Jerusalem with trees growing for food on both sides. Their leaves will not whither, nor fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit.

This imagery of Heaven and the New Jerusalem is repeated again in Revelation 12:12. God shows John his vision a tree by a river that bears 12 kinds of fruit, one for each month. Leaves are for healing of the nations. Throughout John’s writings, he likes to link Genesis to Christ (such as John 1). Christ is the tree of life. Christ bore the fruit, Christ healed the nations.


Also, God being the perfect blessed man then allows us access to the tree of life one again. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." -Revelations 2:8

The tree of life acts as bookends to God's story of the Bible, with Jesus as the tree of life in the middle, anchoring and tying the whole thing together. Man ate of the forbidden tree and was spiritually dead, along with being banned from the tree of life, causing physical death. The God of Life who is life, died on a tree to give us a new spiritual life and came back to life to defeat death, so that we could eat of the tree of life once again and have a new physical life.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”
-Galatians 12:12

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. -Deuteronomy 21:22-23 as a Prophecy of Christ.

The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
-Acts 5:30-31

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. -1 Peter 2:24

Secondary Bible Themes 7 - Mountains

Here is a list of themes in the Bible. Mountains are one of them and are mentioned in 310 verses in the Bible. They are presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth. Mountains, therefore represent holy places, where God is present. Pagans also had this idea of gods dwelling on mountains (think Olympus).



He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” -Genesis 22:2

[ The Burning Bush ] Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God....He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” -Exodus 3:1,12

You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. -Exodus 15:17

In Exodus 19-34 Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God and recieve God's word in the 10 commandments.

[ The Shining Face of Moses ] When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. -Exodus 34:29

[ The Lord Is in His Holy Temple ] [ To the choirmaster. Of David. ] In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain,-Psalm 11:1

"I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from?" -Psalm 121


“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob,that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his path." -Isaiah 2:3a

Matthew specifically utilizes this theme and makes the connection of Mountains and Jesus. This makes sense because Matthew is a Jew, writing to the Jews to explain how Jesus is the Messiah. He is transitioning and linking the Old and New Testaments as well as showing that Jesus is God with us.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.-Matthew 4:8

 The Sermon on the Mount -Matthew 5

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,-Matthew 14:23

[ Jesus Heals Many ] Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. - Matthew 15:29

[ The Transfiguration ] And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. -Matthew 17:1

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” -Matthew 17:20

And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. - Matthew 21:21

Jesus commissioned the apostles on a mountain, just like Moses was.

[ The Great Commission ] Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. -Matthew 28:16

Revelation is a vision is full of symbolism about the end of this world, the beginning of the next, and Jesus at the nexus, so mountains featured prominently there as well.

The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, -Revelation 6:14-16

The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. -Revelation 8:8

This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; -Revelation 17:9

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, -Revelation 21:10

Secondary Bible Themes 6 - Kingdom of Heaven, God's House

Here is a list of themes in the Bible. On of them is the Kingdom of Heaven, God's House.

He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."  -Matthew 13:52

Jesus Established His Kingdom Within the Faithful

But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. -Matthew 12:28

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  -Matthew 16:19

nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." -Luke 17:21

And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me,  -Luke 22:29

We Should Seek His Kingdom, Serve It, and Preach It

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. -Matthew 6:33

Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.  -Acts 28:31

"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."  -Luke 18:29-30

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.  -Matthew 11:12

The Heavenly Kingdom

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  -Matthew 8:11

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."  -Luke 23:42-43

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."   -John 18:36

It is Eternal

But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever-yes, for ever and ever.'  -Daniel 7:18

…his kingdom will never end."  -Luke 1:33b

The Kingdom Will Come to the World in the End

"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.  -Daniel 2:44

your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  -Matthew 6:10

and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  -Matthew 3:2

Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.  -Mark 15:43

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come.  -Matthew 24:14

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, … Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. -Luke 17:20-29

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."  -Revelation 11:15

Other Details

How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.  -Daniel 4:3

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.  -Luke 11:17

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.  -1 Corinthians 4:20

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe  -Hebrews 12:28

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,  -Romans 14:17

Who Gets In and Who Does Not

strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said.  -Acts 14:22

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.  -Galatians 5: 19-21

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God  -Ephesians 5:5

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is [Some manuscripts is for those who trust in riches] to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  -Mark 10:23-25

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  -Matthew 18:1-4

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. -1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." -Matthew 19:14

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.  -Matthew 23:13

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.  -Matthew 5:19-20

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  -Matthew 5:3

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. -Matthew 5:10

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."  -John 3:3

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  -John 3:5

He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."  -Luke 9:59-62

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'  -Matthew 7:21-23

For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."  -Matthew 19:12

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  -1 Corinthians 15:50-52

The Kingdom of heaven Is like…

New and Old Treasures

“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” -Matthew 13

Unmerciful Servant

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.  "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of ours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."  -Matthew 18

Workers in the Vineyard

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' " 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.' "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.' "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'  -Matthew 20

Two Sons

"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' " 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. -Matthew 21

Wedding Banquet

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. "Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' "But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  -Matthew 22

Ten Virgins

"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' " 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.  -Matthew 25

The Great Banquet

"A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' " 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.  -Luke 14