Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to Be Seated at God’s Banquet Table?
“Taste and see that the LORD is good;
(Psalm 34: 8 NASB)
How blessed is the man who
takes refuge in Him!”
I absolutely love when several people come for dinner at our house after Sunday morning church, so many that we find ourselves squeezing up our chairs. In fact, there have been times when we were so close together that we did not even have room for the chair-backs, so we would grab the piano bench for two of us to share. Making room for all who wish to come to dinner, side-by-side we pull up close, and we enjoy a meal of tasty food, good conversation, and great laughter.
The Bible speaks of a great banquet table our Father has prepared for His children. It’s totally hard to imagine the enormity of this table God has for us, but I believe it exists because God tells us that it does.
Yet, there is only one way a person can ever “pull up a chair” at the Father’s banquet table—the person must be a child of God. The magnitude of those words can bring such amazing joy! In the Bible, the physician called to become an apostle of Jesus knew from his practice of medicine the importance of nourishment. Dr. Luke knew firsthand how people needed to eat and to drink. Maybe that’s why he wrote the words Jesus spoke to his apostles, words that assured them of their place at His banquet table, even though they were enduring trials here while on earth. Jesus knew that on a day very soon His chosen apostles would join Him at His table.
“You are the ones who have stood by
(Luke 22: 28-30 NASB)
Me in My trials;
and just as My Father has granted Me a
kingdom, I grant you
that you may eat and drink at My table
in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Yesterday, while cheering on the walkers in De 4Daagse/The Walk of the World in Nijmegan, The Netherlands (a country where 17% know Jesus as Savior), I heard these words spoken in regard to life—“Eat, drink, and have fun for life is short.”
This is a true statement.
Nevertheless, this statement is also untrue.
- We are to enjoy life.
- We are to enjoy time shared with others.
- We do need nourishment (food & drink) to remain alive.
- We can enjoy our time here on earth as we share life with others.
Truly, our life is so brief, so short.
Nevertheless—That is where the true also becomes false.
- Every person’s life on earth is a blink of time, and then it is gone—we die.
- Every person’s life in eternity is forever & ever & ever & . . . (INFINITY)!
Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to Be Seated at God’s Banquet Table?
“The one who has an ear, let him hear what
(The Revelation to John 2:7 NASB)
the Spirit says to the churches. To the one
who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the
tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.”
Imagine stepping from this life into Paradise. Truly, I cannot imagine the beauty there will be to absorb. There will not be any need to hurry once we arrive, for we will have an “eternity” of time to enjoy.
“And he showed me a river of the water
(The Revelation to John 22: 1-4 NASB)
of life, clear as crystal, coming from the
throne of God and of the Lamb,
in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month;
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations.
There will no longer be any curse; and the
throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it,
and His bond-servants will serve Him;
they will see His face, and His name will
be on their foreheads.”
- Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to Be Seated at God’s Banquet Table?
- Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to Have the Name of Jesus on Their forehead?
- Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to See Jesus?
- Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to Serve the Son of God?
- Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to Be Near the Throne of God?
- Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to See the Lamb God Provided for Us?
- Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to Eat from the Tree of Life?
- Why Wouldn’t Everyone Desire to Come to Know Jesus as Savior?
It comes down to a simple word—CHOICE!
All have opportunity, but ALL must choose to accept Christ Jesus as Savior, for without the Saving Grace of God applied to one’s life, he will never BE SEATED AT GOD’S BANQUET TABLE!
We (the children of God) who know this truth must be bold to speak Jesus into this lost world, inviting all we know to see and know Jesus as we do.
A melody speaks the magnitude of emotion that we can feel as we think of our place at God’s Banquet Table & the SON of GOD WHO DIED SO THAT WE COULD BE MADE FREE THROUGH HIM.
“I am forgiven.
Benjamin William Hastings
No longer lost
Now I am living in the power of the cross!
Goodbye to sorrow
Welcome my joy
Now I am living in the power of the cross!
Thank You
Oh God, I thank You
Jesus, I thank You.
Thank You for the cross.
Praise You
Oh God, I praise You
Jesus, I praise You.
I praise You for the cross.”