Table

If I were to answer the question: “What is the one place in your home that most conversations take place?” my answer would be the kitchen. And to take it a step further it would be around the kitchen table. I think that many of you would agree.  What is it about a kitchen that is so alluring.  The obvious answer is there is food and drink! But the kitchen, to me, is not just a place to satisfy an appetite, rather it is a gathering place, not like a bedroom where privacy is invoked, or a den where entertainment and comfortable seating are positioned, but the kitchen is a place to kind of ease around in light conversation as well as heartfelt discussions.  

Pam Thompson concluded her semester lessons yesterday on “Great Expectations, What is Holding you back?”, and as she was talking she gave an example of the Lord's banquet table. She referred to Psalm 34:8: Oh taste and see that the Lord is good;how blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! When we start our our day, we have an idea of how we have planned for it to shake out, but only God knows how the hours will unravel and what we will be faced with.  Things may go as planned and scheduled according to our calendars or things may take us by surprise. While many    may be living in severity when times are really tough or stuck in circumstances that are beyond their control, it is God who determines the menu of what is served throughout each day. The banquet table of Christ is not covered with all the things pleasurable to our taste but the things he offers at his table are all covered under the banner of his love. 

If we make an effort to not focus on the food but focus on the host and the loving kindness with which he provides power, comfort, direction, security and wisdom, in spite of circumstances, we will

taste his goodness at our every interval.God's greatest desire is that we come and sit with him and enjoy his presence and get to know him better. He already knows everything there is to know about us.  

But back to my own kitchen table.  That is where we too share stories of fun, interest, delight, adventure, things to come and things that were.  It is a place where family and friends come together for fellowship, comfort and encouragement when times of disappointment, frustration, and sadness have come knocking at our door. God too has a place designated for us to come to have fellowship with him; it is in our hearts. His offerings are infinite, his love abounds, and his power encompasses all authority on this earth and in his heavens.  

If we just close our eyes and imagine God, he will be there in our thoughts, for his spirit dwells within our hearts.  He has invited each of us to join him at his banquet table and has a spread of plenty for all to partake in. We consider food as a commodity to enrich our bodies, but God considers His offering of food a commodity that enriches the depths of our hearts, minds and soul. 

Just as we gather to share around our own tables in the comfort of our homes and feed on fellowship and food, may we be ever conscious of the table that God has prepared through his loving kindness and goodness, His riches that fill our soul and quench our appetites.

Solomon’s Song of Songs 2:4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.

Dear Lord, Oh how we feast at your table when we are in your presence.  Thank you for the open invitation to join you when we hunger and thirst for truth and righteousness. May we yearn for your presence and taste your goodness and be satisfied by your offerings.   Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!