Miss the Banquet?

“A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. At the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” Luke 14:16-24

“You prepare a table before me.” Psalm 23:5

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” Isaiah 25:6

The free and scrumptious bounty offered by the banquet host should have been enticing, but the pull of lesser things detracted from the greater satisfaction. Both possessions and people took priority over rich fare they’d not yet tasted. They didn’t want to make any effort toward what was theirs by faith, choosing what was theirs by urgency, preference, or self-procurement. Those who partook were those who knew their need and humbly, gratefully, and empty-handedly came to receive.

Oh, what goodness the child of God can refuse! We’ve been given every spiritual blessing in Christ, and enter each day as owners with the opportunity to become users. Our Lord prepares a regular table for us to feast on His all things, yet ignorance and busyness and pressures tend us toward our default ‘already know.’ And that is often struggles, spiritual hunger, weaknesses which we by rote confront in our own strength with our own remedies to endless frustration. Each pang could be met and fed and helped at His feast. Whether refusal stems from neglect, laziness, or willful rejection, the banquet, by grace, remains ours for the taking. (Romans 8:32; Ephesians 1:3)

What will it take for us to pull away from our occupations and possessions to be refreshed in the Lord? Though flesh challenges and relational responsibilities do not let up, He invites us to let go for seasons in order to gain fresh perspective and be renewed by God’s word, encouraged through fellowship, and fortified by His promises and gifts.

What specifically occupies mind, heart, and hands at present? How might the attending conundrums be transformed by feasting in time and attention with the Lord? What anxiety should dissolve in His peace, fear be swallowed by faith, confusion be redirected with His wisdom?

Lord, keep me coming, and partaking, and satisfied in You alone.