I am not going to speak this morning upon new year’s resolutions. But I shall say something which I believe will help you in carrying out the resolution that has just been mentioned. For our text we go to the fourteenth chapter of Luke, and begin reading with verse 15. “And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring me hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” II Three Slackers According to the social customs which are said to have prevailed at that time and in the light of this text, it appears that the men in this story had already received and accepted the original invitation to attend this great supper. The servant was sent to tell those who were bidden that supper was now served. In spite of their social obligation to attend, they began to make excuse. 1. The nature of their excuses is not very commendable. The first one said he had bought a piece of land and he was going to see it. I don’t believe he bought that land without having already seen it. Such things sometimes happen but not often. He had probably walked over the farm very thoroughly before he agreed to buy it. He was simply making an excuse and he is not the last man who has allowed a piece of land to keep him away from duty. I was brought up in the country and I have known men to work on their farms six days a week from early in the morning until late in the evening and then on Sunday morning they just had to walk over the fields before they could go to worship. They would get out in the grass and in the dew and get their clothes wet and come in late, too late to go to Bible school, or maybe even too late to get to worship at all. Of course, such conduct is not acceptable in the sight of God.