I’ve always been somewhat of a foodie. I like food. I enjoy eating and look forward to a good meal with my family. Some of my favorite memories are at the dinner table with people that I love, especially those meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas where we laugh and cry together, tell stories, eat delicious food, and talk about the goodness of God.
To this day, my grandparents still laugh when they tell the story of how I used to bless the food as a little girl. They said I would bow my head and close my eyes to pray, and then I would begin to thank the Lord for EVERY SINGLE item on the table. I was just so hungry and excited that I didn’t want to forget about anything on my plate. You can imagine this took forever, so halfway through the prayer, I would open one eye just enough to make sure I remembered every side and every condiment. “Lord, thank You for the turkey and the green beans and the sweet-potato casserole, and those rolls, and that butter . . . .” One time I stopped in the middle of the prayer and exclaimed, “Ew! What’s that?”
Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” In this passage, the psalmist reveals a great truth to us: spiritual food is just as real and important as natural food. If you want to be nourished and healthy, you must eat it every single day. It’s always better to start eating again before you feel like you’re starving, but if you’re hungry, just keep on feeding, and you will get full. Just as natural food brings energy to keep the body going, spiritual food is the fuel for your future.
The Word of God is our spiritual food, and it is delicious. Jeremiah 15:16 kjv says, “ Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and y word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” The Message translation reads, “When your words showed up, I ate them—swallowed them whole. What a feast!” If you always ll up on junk food, you won’t have room for anything good. But if you eat all the greens and veggies and fruits that you’re supposed to in a day, you won’t desire the bad stuff . Listening to teaching that doesn’t bring you abundant life is like taking in empty calories. Check the label on your food! Is it full of additives and preservatives that will entertain your soul but leave you weak? Or is it real and raw and able to build you up and make you strong? Ingesting words of faith and victory is like eating fine food. The quality of the word that you eat will determine the quality of life that you live.
How you eat is just as important as what you eat. Doctors have found that eating on the go is not the best for your health. One of my least favorite things to do is to rush through a good meal without taking time to savor it. Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.” To taste means to savor or to enjoy completely. We shouldn’t rush through our time with the Lord like driving through a fast-food restaurant. He is not to be endured; He is to be enjoyed. I want to enjoy Him completely. I want to encounter His presence. I want to have an experience with Him.
Real foodies don’t eat for convenience’s sake; they eat for experience. When I travel, I do a little research to find out where the top restaurants are in the area. I endeavor to eat pretty healthy, so when I’m on the road, I like to look for farm-to-table restaurants that serve locally grown produce and natural meats. The food tastes so much better to me because it comes straight from farms nearby and hasn’t been sitting on grocery-store shelves for months. And on top of that, I get excited about the dinner experience.
With the Lord, you will always have Fine-dining experience. Remember that old song we used to sing in church, “He brought me to His banqueting table, and His banner over me is love.” That verse comes from Song of Solomon 2:4. The God’s Word translation says, “He leads me into a banquet room and looks at me with love.” Before you will even approach His table, you just believe that He loves you. If you are full of condemnation, you will not come. If you are always conscious of your sin and mindful of insecurities, you will not come. If you think you don’t measure up or you’ve messed up too big, you’ll stay at the kiddie table and refuse to accept His invitation. It takes courage to come. It takes faith to believe that you have a seat at the table, that you have something to bring to the table, and that you are always welcome at the table.
As you open the door to His banqueting room, you have to see Jesus with His arms open wide to you and a smile on His face. If you’ve missed it, repent, cry out for mercy, and then MOVE ON and take your seat. Don’t miss out on the main course! He will never hang your sin over your head: His banner over you is love. The Message translation of Song of Solomon 2:4 reads, “All I want is to sit in his shade, to taste and savor his delicious love. He took me home with him for a festive meal, but his eyes feasted on me!”
Oftentimes when I’ve been invited to a dinner party, I ask the host, “Is there anything I can bring?” I never want to show up empty-handed. Neither do I want to show up empty-handed when I take my seat at the Lord’s table. The two things that I can bring are my heart and my faith. Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” There are two things we need when we come into His presence: a heart that genuinely loves Him, and faith that is fully sure of Him.
Jesus is the Master Chef. He has spent all of His time in the kitchen preparing the perfect meal for you. In fact, He slaved over it: took stripes just for you, went to the cross just for you, laid down His life just for you. He did all the work! Now He rings the dinner bell and shouts, “IT IS FINISHED! COME AND GET IT!”
Now, there sits before you a dish full of healing, a pitcher of joy, a plate of peace, a platter of protection and prosperity. Will you come and eat? Grace sets the table. Faith eats!
I have found that nothing on earth satisfies my soul like a meal with Jesus. He is the only One who can completely satisfy and still leave me hungry for more. Psalm 107:9 NIV says, “For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”
Although the table has been set with plenty on it to appease your appetite, God will never force you to eat. In His grace, He will bring you to His banqueting table, but you still have to eat by faith. It is easier said than done: in Luke 14:16-18 GNT, Jesus tells the parable of one great dinner: “ ere was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many people. When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, ‘Come, everything is ready!’ But they all began, one after another, to make excuses.”
If you read on, you will find that all of the excuses seemed like pretty legitimate reasons not to show up for dinner. But Jesus didn’t accept any of them. He summed the story up with this, “I tell you all that none of those who were invited will taste my dinner!” (v. 24).
I refuse to miss out on the feast He has set before me. I want everything Jesus came to give me. The Lord gave us a verse to a song that says:
I will sit at the table you’ve prepared for me, Here I am safe from the enemy. I will feast on your love and your mercy, For death has lost its hold on me!
Psalm 23:5 says that He has prepared a table for you even in the presence of your enemies here on earth. That means even in the midst of fear or doubt, even in the presence of people who are against you, even in toughest times, you have a safe place to go. Sit down at the King’s table. This is a picture of rest and real faith rests in God. Take time to slow down and savor His goodness. Do like what I did as a little girl. Get excited about your food! Take a good look at everything Grace has set on the table. See the spread that He has set before you. Recall all that He has done for you. Find out from the Word everything that He has set before you, and then close your eyes and start thanking Him for every item on your plate. Psalm 103:2 msg says, “O my soul, bless God, don’t forget a single blessing!” As you thank God, you are feeding on His faithfulness. Grace has set the table. Faith eats everything on the plate. Come and find your seat. Its dinner time y’all.
Let’s eat!