The Banquet Table- GOOD THINGS

OK I confess that I am a "foodie."  When most guys spend all day, or most every free moment watching some sort of game going on, except for when my team plays, I would rather watch a food channel.  I don't think the most interesting guy in the world drinks Dos Equis.  I think he is a fat little Jewish man from New York City, and he eats every food from around the world, and doesn't drink alcohol at all.  He is in the hall of fame from experiencing every cuisine available, except one.  I don't think he has tasted the most satisfying one of all, for I doubt he knows Jesus as His Savior, nor the meal that Jesus wants to give him.  He is missing out.  I do not know him personally but I know men.   I know the hunger that lives within us all.  I know that we try to mask it and act like it is not there.  We try to fill it with counterfeits and think that our hunger is being satisfied with false religions or a prosperous lifestyle only to be left empty.  We try to hide our hunger and say everything is "OK - Peachy - Couldn't be better."  But we are not OK if we are soul hungry.  We are starving for the food that really satisfies.

Because I am a "foodie" I like to cook.  I like to cook for people.  I like to see them dig in and ummm all the way through the meal that I have prepared for them.  I go to a lot of trouble and I have to be honest, I like to be appreciated.  I mean anyone would feel slighted to be taken for granted and not appreciated for the sacrifice made and the thought that goes into a meal and the preparations that are made?  Have you ever been really appreciated for a job well done?  How good does it make you feel?  Have you also not been thanked when you've worked hard to prepare a meal or lift a burden from someone and they didn't even offer a single word of appreciation?  Makes you regret serving them doesn't it?  Makes you look for people who care about others to serve, and maybe they will pay your service to them forward to someone else?  After all, the most selfish people care only for themselves and convey, "What have you done for me lately?"  They are not grateful and they show it.  Most of us detest this, don't we?   Therefore, I want to ask you to enter your own feelings in the questions I just asked as I share this next thought:

I think Jesus likes to be appreciated as well.   He has prepared a tremendous feast for His family, but most of us only eat the crumbs that fall off His banquet table.  Why is this?  Could it be that we don't care for what He's done for us, or could it be that we don't think He cares?  Could it be that we do not listen to the spiritual growl in our stomach that is saying to us, "FEED ME and Get Off the Crumbs?"  If we come to understand this, could it be that we are ignorant with how to have a good spiritual meal?  I tell you this, once we've tasted the Lord's home cooking, nothing else will satisfy us.  We shouldn't settle for the crumbs that merely sustain us when the main course is hot and ready to be eaten.  Come to the table.  You are His kid and He doesn't want you eating off the floor.  Sit with Him, and enjoy the feast.  You are invited.

But, before you eat, you need to do that which most Christian families do when they sit down to a feast.  You need to give thanks for the meal that you are about to receive.  Starting tomorrow through Friday, before we get into serving you the main course that Jesus has cooked up, begin the feast today by thanking your Father for the feast you are about to partake of over the next three days.  Rejoice that Jesus has invited you to open the door to your heart and allow Him to come into an intimate place with you to feed you the meal that He has prepared for you.  You see Jesus is also a "Foodie."  He likes to feed us and be appreciated.  Start the appreciation of prayer today and we will dig into the meal tomorrow.