What’s your trajectory? That may seem like a strange question, but it’s an important one.

Matthew records some pretty major teachings of Jesus in that last several chapters of his gospel. (Not that all of Jesus’ teachings are less than major.) But, Matthew records a series of teachings that Jesus did between His last entry into Jerusalem and His crucifixion; and these teachings are significant.

Much of these teachings are parables that begin with “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” In these parables, like the parable of the wedding feast found in Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus is desperately trying to get His audience, which is you and me now, to get their trajectory pointed toward His coming Kingdom. In effect, He’s asking you and me, “What’s your trajectory? Is it toward my Kingdom?”

So, how do you know if your trajectory is a Kingdom trajectory?

• Jesus begins with simple desire. The story goes like this: A king is throwing a wedding feast for his son and there’s been a lot of the people of the kingdom invited. So, the king sends out his servants to tell all invited that it’s time for  the wedding. The only problem is those invited don’t care about the invitation. Apparently, they don’t think the wedding feast will be a very good party, so it’s not worth going.

This is probably Jesus’ first point; you’ll miss this Kingdom if you have no desire for it. Here’s the truth, you’ll have no desire if you think the Kingdom to come is no big deal. Just don’t miss this truth, the Kingdom to which Jesus is inviting you is far greater than anything on this earth; anything!

• For those invited to the wedding feast there was also a problem of disregard. Some who were invited were indifferent. They just had better things to do. As Jesus tells the parable, some just went to their own businesses and farms. Others became flat out indignant as if they were saying, “You’re not going to tell me what to do!” So, they put a beat down on the servants who came to call them to the wedding. How crazy is that?!

Here’s the next truth: those invited just had a plain disregard for the king and his son. Your desire of God’s kingdom will rise and fall with how you view God; and His Son.

In the end of the parable, those who were invited but refused to attend were counted unworthy of any longer being called to the wedding. This is not because of the type of job they had or because their marriage failed or because their kids didn’t behave well. The reason they’re considered unworthy is because they have no desire or regard for the wedding, the king or his son. They have a trajectory of self and not a trajectory of the kingdom.

So, let me ask you again: what’s your trajectory?

God is inviting you to the great wedding feast. You can read about it in Revelation chapter 19. He’s also inviting you to be a subject of His great Kingdom. You can read about it in Revelation 20 and Ezekiel chapters 40 – 48; as well as other places. How do you know if you have Kingdom trajectory? When you have a desire and high regard for the King and His Kingdom to come.

This is why you would have desire and regard for it. Because the value of the Kingdom is in the value of the King; the Son. I hope you accept the invitation and spend your life with a Kingdom trajectory! That way, when the call comes for the invited to come you won’t have anything better to do.