Come to Dinner
 

Don’t you love to sit at a table filled with food and enjoy the celebration of eating together? There seems to be more than just good food and good fellowship going on. It’s a deep connection that satisfies the body and the soul.

We discover in the scriptures how many times in the Old Testament God declared feasts for worshipping Him. In the New Testament, while Jesus walked on earth; He gathered His followers together to dine—always with a direct correlation of understanding His love and care for them.

We read in Genesis how many things God created for the pleasure of eating and sustaining us. The plants, fruit trees, the flocks of animals, the birds and the fish of the sea were all made for us to enjoy.

We also discover God called people together for celebrating--beginning with the sacrifice of the first and best of the animals and then the best of our labors. They would feast together for days in worship and praise to God Almighty.

In the New Testament there is so much emphasis given to hunger for food and hunger for Christ. Nourishment is so important to our physical health and our spiritual health. It’s a comparison we all can understand. We don’t grow without food; neither do we grow spiritually without the food He offers.

How hungry and thirsty are we? Can we come hungry and eager to enjoy the table He has offered to us? There is true enjoyment found in feasting everyday with Him.

So let us explore the table He sets before us. In Psalm 23:5 we read how He provides delicious food in the presence of our enemies. In Psalm 78:24 they ate food that angels also ate. In Isaiah 43:20 He tells us He will make a river and springs in the desert to refresh His chosen ones. In John 6:35 His table offers the bread of life, so no one coming to Him will ever be hungry again nor thirst if they believe in Him. When we follow Him He leads us to a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:17). He feeds “baby” Christians milk, but mature children eat meat (1 Corinthians 3:2). They digest the word of God and it strengthens and nourishes them. In Matthew 14:17 Jesus fed a crowd of five thousand in the desert with five small loaves of bread and two fish that a small boy had offered.

How important is it for us to be fed by Him? In Matthew 4:19 Jesus talks about the fish that takes the prize--the fish that truly satisfies the hunger. It is the fishing for the souls of men and the bringing of a soul into the family of God.

For the dessert He offers the fruit of the spirit. What is more enjoyable than love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? The abundant life is truly found by feasting at the table that Jesus provides everyday.

Harriette Seiler. October, 2004

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