It's About Who You Know Isn't It?.....

I was once invited to a dinner party by a very wealthy gentleman and his
wife. The party was not at his home, but at the home of a friend and I had
been assured that he could invite anyone he liked because the host was his
best friend. He just told me to tell them at the door that I was a guest of
his and their would be no problem, we would be admitted. I was very
excited. I was honored because this man was extremely wealthy. He had a
one hundred and five foot boat, and a Rolls Royce and diamonds on every
finger. And yet he and his wife had come to me for a very difficult
business loan and I was able to obtain the financing for them. And they
repaid me with an invitation to their friends home where they would
introduce me to many more people that could be potential clients for me.

I was in no way poor, and could hold my own in any crowd. But the night we
arrived at this man's house, or should I say, mansion, the gentleman that
helped us out of our car was dressed in more expensive attire than we were.
I suddenly became very self conscious and nervous. We walked up the pathway
that lead to the front door. You could easily play nine holes of golf in
this man's front yard. When we finally got to the front door and rang the
resounding bell, we were met with stern and curious eyes that traveled from
our heads to our toes. "May I see your invitation please?", the staunch
young man asked. I told him that we had no invitation but that we had been
asked to come by a friend of the host. "May I have that name please?" is
all the person said. There was no smile on his face nor any sign of concern
for our obvious discomfort as other guests were motioned through the door
without their invitations being asked for. The door shut after a brief,
"Wait here", from the doorman. After what seemed an hour and as we were
turning to escape back to our car, the door opened again and we were
gestured in. We really did not know what to expect, but the host himself
was there and shook our hands as if he had know us for years and immediately
took us around to all the other guests and introduced me as a very important
business associate. Now what I had done for his partner had greatly
impacted one of their joint ventures and had somehow saved the day for them.
I had just been doing my job and was not aware of all that had happened
behind the scenes and was quite overwhelmed by all the attention. By the
end of that day I had made very many important business connections. It was
as if this gentleman adopted me and saw to my good fortune as he would see
to the needs of one of his children. Funny. I never would have been able
to have this association with any of these people if not for one man who was
the key to my existence there that day.

Later, after I became a Christian, I thought back on that day and was amazed
at the parallel between the invitation to that party and the invitation that
our Lord, Christ Jesus, had extended to me one day. I was in awe because
this Man just happened to be the Son of a King. By accepting His
invitation, heaven was opened to me. I had been adopted into the family of
God. I had all rights and access to the Most High God Himself. And
throughout the years, He has made sure that I have made the right
connections here on earth. And He has rewarded me for my work for his
company, the Kingdom of God. And the bonuses have been beyond compare. I
came to heaven's door in spiritual rags and was not worthy on my own to even
touch the doorknob let alone enter in. But today when I knock, the door
swings wide open and one day, even though I live in modest means here on
earth compared to others who live in mansions, I will myself live in the
greatest mansion of all and that is Heaven itself. You know what? I guess
it really is about "who you know" isn't it?....Patti