The Banquet Table- PROGRESSIVE DINNER

When I was 21 years old, I took a break from 12 consecutive years of summer baseball and got a summer job in Europe.  I ditched the job when there, bought a $30.00 German scooter and drove it over the Alps, down to the Riviera and the boot of Italy to Rome.  After a while, I hitchhiked back from Rome to Paris and flew home to prepare for my fall year of football.  It was quite the experience.  On one of my hitchhike rides in Italy my host asked what I regretted the most and missed while in Europe.  I told him I regretted not eating some of the major cuisine that I had read about.  His eyes sparkled when he told me that I would experience a feast like that before I returned to America.  Sure enough, he found a friendly restaurant that would cook to order the things he asked them to cook.  What a meal!  It started with a homegrown salad to wake up the taste buds.  Hot crusty bread freshly baked with gobs of real butter was provided to compliment the salad.  It then progressed to pasta with a special sauce to build a foundation for the entrée.  Then the star of the show was presented which was veal cooked in white wine, artichokes, mushrooms and capers, with a side of garden vegetables from the garden outside.  After this savory meal, a desert of custard with caramel scorched on the top dripping down the sides capped off the savory dishes I had just eaten with a sweet contrast.  Finally, fruit was provided to aid with digestion (Never done that before either). I walked away completely satisfied with the meal and educated on how a fine meal should be experienced.  This meal was thought out.  It was designed to form on the palette of my mouth a strategic introduction of different taste sensations that welcome the next distinct flavor, but also joined with the previous taste.  It was eaten with a relaxed conversation and with a generous angel God had allowed me to share a ride with.  I never had any contact with him since then.  But the memory of what he did remains 50 years later.

Why do I share this information with you?  Well, consider what I'm trying to serve up to you.   God's feast that comes from His banquet table is also well thought out.  At every stage of our life we will have challenges that require a special spiritual strength to endure.  Spiritual strength comes from spiritual nutrition, and spiritual nutrition comes from the word of God.  Like a progressive meal such as I had in my time in Italy, God's Word is progressive and has individualized nutrition for whatever condition we are in.  Right now you might only require a light wake up appetizer to get you going in the morning such as a devotional?  I typically start with My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  There are other good ones as well.  If there is nothing that is a glaring problem, we still need to keep constant contact with God's Word to stay healthy.  However, if there is a glaring problem, this is when we need to dig into something designed for our particular need.  As our body will signal the need to eat, and often what we crave is what we need, likewise our spiritual condition craves certain assurances that once found, feed us and strengthen us.  Consider the following two scriptures:

Since I'm using foodie metaphors, I'll stay with it.  Consider a metaphor that the scriptures above are like a menu given to us by a restaurant for us to consider what we are hungry for.  With God's Word, we can see that it is chock full of promises (dishes) from Him.  We consider what we are presently going through in life that is demanding attention and we find a promise or teaching that applies to our condition.  In times like that, I like to journal during those trying times by listing clearly in my journal the need that I am aware of.  It goes at the top of the page.  I then go to the banquet table menu and search for promises in the Word of God that speaks directly to my need.  These promises tell me that all will be well if I do a certain thing.  I want to know what that is.  Once I have connected my need to the promise and my part in addressing the need, I then begin a slow intake and digestion of the meal I'm taking in.  I allow it to work to my heart.  Journaling through these scriptures helps me digest God's word and turn it into spiritual nutrition.  My need and my understanding of the amazing menu of promises that God has given to me, helps me understand how to get soul healthy and stay soul healthy.  What will be the results?  Well it may require an action on our part, or it may be that God wants us to watch and wait for Him to act.  It is never the same.  However, in either case it requires obedience on our part.  We will discuss that tomorrow.