Come to the Table….
Those are the beginning lyrics of a beautiful song by Sidewalk Prophets. The song has been running through my head the last couple days. I think it was playing on the radio at one point and just caught my soul’s attention. It’s a beautiful invitation.
“He said come to the table
Come join the sinners who have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior
Sit down and be set free”
As the lyrics and the gentle invitation have echoed around my mind these last few days, I’ve been thinking about this Blog post. The month leading up to Easter has been challenging me this year. I am not a biblical scholar, I haven’t spent countless hours breaking down the details and timelines and maps of Jesus’ ministry. But this year I’ve been wondering, what did Jesus’ last month look like? Not just His last week, there are a million search results to that question, but He knew the end was near, He knew His time with these people whom He loved was limited, what did He spend His last month doing? And then today, I found a chart on the timeline of Jesus’ ministry according to the book of Luke. And while it’s not broken up into exact dates, as we all know that data has been difficult to pin down, the last section before Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, points to the chapters of Luke 14-19. So, doing the next logical thing, I go to my Bible app to pull up Luke 14, when I discover something that the world would tell me is a simple coincidence, but my faith knows is how God speaks. I open my Bible App, which happens to be open today’s reading from my current devotional, want to guess what it is? Luke 14:16-24, know what story that is? The Parable of the Great Feast.
And my spirit laughs… out loud. God really is the amazing director, conductor, and choreographer of the story of my life (and yours). This week he spun together separate experiences, to draw me to one place, to the reminder that He sits and waits. Not just for the feast someday. As a follower of Jesus, I have already accepted the invitation to the banquet that awaits me when my time on this earth comes to an end, but He sits and waits today. Everyday is a new invitation to sit down at the table with Him. My mess, my imperfection, my mistakes are welcome there. And He encourages me to bring a friend, or two or twenty. So today, I invite you to come to the table with me. To sit down beside the Savior, and rest in His presence, and be set free.
“To the thief and to the doubter, To the hero and the coward, To the prisoner and the soldier, To the young and to the older, All who hunger all who thirst, All the last and all the first, All the paupers and the princes, All who fail you’ve been forgiven, All who dream and all who suffer, All who loved and lost another, All the chained and all the free, All who follow all who lead. Anyone who’s been let down, All the lost you have been found, All who have been labeled right or wrong, To everyone who hears this song” – “Come to the Table,” Sidewalk Prophets
“There is still room for more” – Luke 14:23
