In this episode of the Iron Saints Podcast, host Dan Willis expands his usual 5‑minute format into a longer, chapter‑length devotional, focusing on Luke 14. He reads the passage from the ESV, highlighting Jesus’ Sabbath healing of a man with dropsy, the parable of the wedding feast, and the great banquet invitation. Willis interprets these teachings as calls to humility, self‑examination, and wholehearted discipleship, warning against the modern tendency to let busyness and self‑importance keep us from responding to Christ’s invitation. He challenges listeners to examine their own posture toward the “feast” – whether they come with entitlement or humility – and urges continual prayer, ceaseless devotion, and reliance on God amid daily struggles. The episode concludes with a heartfelt prayer for listeners, an invitation to submit prayer requests via email or social media, and a reminder that the prepared feast is available to all who respond.
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Welcome back to the Iron Saints Podcast with your host, Dan Willis.
Welcome back, Saints. It's a new day and I am stoked that we are back at it. We are gonna continue our journey through Luke today. I hope everybody has been following along. If you are new to the podcast, this is your first episode and you want to go back and start from the beginning, please feel free to do so. All of the podcast episodes are still up and live right from the beginning. They're there for you. But if you just want to pick up And continue along with us where we are. No problem with that whatsoever. I did receive some feedback from you guys that you were hoping that possibly they'd be just a little bit longer. The 5-minute episodes that have been coming out lately have not necessarily been long enough to do a full daily devotion. So I am going to try to do this a little bit longer, maybe a full chapter instead of just the little snippets that we've been doing. So we'll give that a shot today and see how it goes. So today we are going to do Luke 14. Grab your coffee, grab your Bible. Grab your Bible. And let's get going. As always, guys, I will be reading from the ESV. I do encourage you to have your own physical copy of the Bible with you if possible. I understand some of you guys are driving, listening at work, or maybe you're at the gym running on the treadmill. In that case, don't worry, I'm going to read it out loud. But as always, if you can grab a Bible and follow along, it is helpful for sure. So Luke chapter 14, verse 1. One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of the ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on the Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out? And they could not reply to these things. Now he told a parable of those who were invited when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, when you're invited by someone to a wedding feast, don't sit down in a place of honor. Let someone more distinguished than you be invited by him. And he who invited you both will come and say to you, give your place to this person. And then you'll begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go instead and sit in the lowest place so that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher. Then you'll be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. He said also to a man who had invited him, when you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you are repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you'll be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you'll be repaid at the resurrection of the just. When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God, But he said to him, a man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, come, for everything is now ready. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I've bought a field and I must go out to see to it. Please have me excused. Another said, I've bought 5 yoke of oxen and I go to examine them. Please have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported these things to the master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city. Bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. And the servant said, sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room. And the master said to the servant, go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of these men who were invited shall taste my banquet. Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children, Brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, Let him hear. So with these larger passages, I am going to take the time to just focus on what jumps out from me for these larger full chapter sections. But I really love how the wedding feast and the great banquet go together here side by side, these 2 parables calling people to have a place of humility, but also recognize what God has done for us. Again, the Pharisees, the Jews of this time, they've been waiting Thousands of years for the Messiah to come, and he calls to them and he says, come to me, and they won't come. And there's a dozen different excuses they can make, whether they believe Christ or not, or their own lives. They've become so occupied with their own lives in so many different ways, their businesses, their relationships, that they can't come to the call of Christ. And whether we are Pharisees or not, I think that's something that we can relate to very, very well in today's society. We make ourselves so busy and we find so little time left at the end of the day to come to Christ. He's calling us. The feast is prepared. He's there. He's waiting. And yet we don't come. Or when we do come, when we choose Sunday morning to make that time, we take a place of posterity of, look at us. Wow, we're at church on Sunday morning and we're going to sit in the pew that's our pew and we're going to sing the songs that we like. I think that this is a really important call, especially halfway through the week here, guys, when people are feeling the drain and the wear and tear of the daily grind. Are you hearing the call? Obviously, if you're listening to this, I'm glad that we're able to sit down and spend some time together in God's word every day. But are you hearing the call? Are you hearing Christ calling you to him? Are you committing to live that day for Christ? Are you committing to take the time in God's word? Are you praying ceaselessly throughout your day? Are you coming to the banquet? Are you? When you come to the banquet, are you coming with a sense of entitlement or a sense of humility? These aren't easy questions. When I ask these questions, it's always so great when you listen to these podcasts and you figure the person on the podcast has it all figured out. I don't. I don't have it figured out. There's so often that when I'm not doing these podcasts that I allow myself to get busy, to lose focus, to lose sight of where I am. And it is a huge challenge. And you wouldn't think it would be. But it is a huge challenge to make that time, to remain humble, to have that focus. So today, guys, that's the challenge that I would like to give you. Saints, listen up. Are you staying humble? Are you hearing the call and are you coming to it? Are you praying ceaselessly throughout your day? Do you carry your devotion with you, the lessons that you've learned throughout the day? Are you coming in a place of humility into your relationship with Christ? Let him be the one to exalt you. Come with humility. All right, saints, let me pray for you. Lord, thank you so much for all of those who are listening to the podcast today. I pray that these words of the banquet would hold in their heart, that they hear your invitation, your call constantly to come into relationship with you, that you've prepared something great for them. And I just pray that they would be able to answer that call, that they would put the worries, anxieties, and pressures of this world aside and come to you today, however that may look in their own lives, however that's on their heart to come to you today. I pray that they would do that, Lord. I pray for those that are facing illness or poverty or just daily struggles in their marriages and relationships or in their work, I pray that you would be there, Lord, that you would be first and foremost, and they would be able to come to you in those times, those struggles, those trials, and see that you have a great feast prepared for them. Those trials will not overcome. I pray for those that have that ability to come to you today, Lord, that they wouldn't do it with a sense or an air of greatness, but instead they would come humble to the banquet that they've been invited to, remembering that you did it all, Lord. Pray for an amazing day for the saints that are listening. Wednesdays can be particularly tough, Lord, and I just pray that you're with each and every single person who's listening, that they would be able to find joy, find refuge in you and the relationship that they have with you today, Lord. In your name we pray. That is it for today, saints. As always, if you guys have prayer requests, feel free to send them to me either in the email or one of the social media channels that's linked down below in the description. Until tomorrow, guys. Have an amazing day. I cannot wait. See you then.
Thank you for listening to the Iron Saints Podcast. If you are looking to share your prayer requests, check the description for social media or email to contact the show. Blessings on you all until next time.
