The Table - Encouragement Café - May 28

The Table
 By Samantha Jackel

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. Luke 22:4 

This table has been part of our lives for the past 23 years. It has travelled through life with us, shared in birthdays, gatherings and meals and it is the table I home-schooled my five children on. 

It has been with us during our seasons of home ownership and moved with us into short-term awkward rentals. It has been loaned out to friends. It has been scratched up, drawn on, cleaned up and sanded back to life. 

We have had bible studies on it, discussions around it, and more prayers and tears than you could imagine have fallen upon this very table. 

Many bottoms have sat around this table - strangers, friends, family, neighbors, drunks, adulterers, liars, traitors, manipulators, demon-possessed, drug addicts, lovers, lawyers, bankers, millionaires, the sick, politicians, the poor, missionaries, servants, evangelists, prophets, apostles, pastors, elders, deacons, mothers, fathers, children, the very old and the very young. 

We have laughed and sung around this table and whoever sits at this table becomes part of our family.     

If this table could talk it would have a thousand stories and I am often reminded to pause and recall memories from around this table – my table!

We all desire to sit at a table, to be part of a table, to be in a story – to feel part of the family! Not all of you will sit at my table or share in my memories. 

However, there is a table that we all get invited to sit at and to belong to. This table is strong and durable, and it will travel through life with you like no other table. This table will hold your heart, remember your tears, and introduce you to your eternal family.

Jesus’ last meal with His disciples was indeed around a table. Jesus left an amazing image for us to remember Him by and part of that image comprises a table. 

Think about it - what would it have looked like that evening? The disciples arriving and being seated at the table - the excited chatter of celebration, the sense of awe and wonder at this Passover meal.      

We should pause and look at this verse often. When we do, it should remind us of His great love for us as shown on the cross.

Jesus began the Supper by giving thanks. Jesus gave thanks for the cup and then passed it among the disciples and then they broke bread.

When we come to the Lord’s table, we need to examine our attitudes. Are we people of thankfulness, joy, and hope, or are we grumblers marked by gloom and despair? 

John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” 

One of the main ways that we glorify God with our lives is by enjoying Him and the blessings of His salvation. If your life is marked by grumbling and despair, you need to judge your attitudes and focus on God’s gracious gift of salvation.

If your heart is a bit cold toward the Savior, maybe you have not been looking at His table frequently or as carefully as you should. 

Come to His table and make this table, the table that holds the greatest place in your heart – a place of memories, great joy and a wonderful sense of belonging as Jesus invites you to be part of His family.

I encourage you to read Luke 22:8-20 and prepare yourself communion and sit and dwell and then bring yourself to His table.

Lord Jesus, it is my prayer that each one of us would feel and walk in Your presence daily, trusting that You have our paths mapped out for us. I ask Lord that You would give each one of us a personal image of what it looks like to sit around Your table, being part of Your table, feeling Your deep love over our lives no matter what we bring to the table. 

For more encouragement, visit Samantha Jackel at mypurplepants.com

© 2020 by Samantha Jackel.  All rights reserved.

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