Holiday Invitations

Sunday we had Ruben and Adrian and families over for fresh fish cooked on the grill. It was a great time. In the afternoon the men talked politicis (of course) and the women and teens played RummyCube. We laughed and challenged each other.
We have decided to invite each 'portion' of the Centellas family over each Sunday before Christmas. This Sunday we are inviting all of Jorge's family which makes for 11 people. With our dining and patio tables, that's just the right number. Lea is having her family from Washington, DC for the holidays so that will also be a fun time. We were always good friends with her family back in the days of Cochabamba.
Invitations are a very important part of the holiday season.
I'd like to remind everyone that God also has sent out an invitation. In fact, that is what this season is about:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did NOT send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already." There is a banquet being prepared in Heaven and the invitation still stands. However, it is a RSVP to which we must personally respond.
I've been attending a Bible study on the book of Daniel and I can't help but wonder if this is the last year that invitation will be availble. Things in the Middle East and around the world seem to point to the return of the King. This time He comes, not as a gentle savior born in a manger, but as the King of Kings who WILL reign. This I believe firmly and hope and pray that you do too, if not that you would give it careful consideration from God's own word.
May your celebration of the holidays that surround us, reflect the magesty and dignity of our eternal hope.