The beautiful family table!
“I beg your pardon?” you shout. “Our table is chaos! I don’t even know how to get order!”
I know. We come to our meal table with our weaknesses and failings. Our children are certainly not perfect. Sometimes they are fussy. Sometimes they don’t want to eat. They grumble and complain. They don’t want to eat their vegetables. They squabble and argue. Or even have a fist fight! Help!
Without God’s intervention, it can be total shambles! But did you know that God wants to come to your table and bring His presence?
Can I share a beautiful and biblical truth with you? The first mention of the table in the Bible is in Exodus 25:23-24, talking about the table of shewbread. In this passage God tells Moses to make a table from acacia wood and then to overlay it with pure gold. It is interesting that this table was to be made of both wood and gold, speaking of Christ’s humanity and His divinity. However, I believe it also relates to the tables we have in our homes.
In the Bible wood always speaks of humanity. That reminds us of our earthly table that can be very earthy! But God covered this wooden table with pure gold which speaks of the divinity of Christ.
Dear frustrated mother, God wants to bring His presence to your table. He wants to cover your humanity with His divinity.
This is what He did at the beginning of creation with Adam and Eve, and He wants to continue this practice throughout all generations. (Genesis 3:8-9) Every day He came to talk with Adam and Eve. He did not come to them in the heat of the day or during their hours of work (for God established the principle of work before sin entered the Garden of Eden). He came to them in the cool of the day, in the evening time—the time of the day when we gather around the meal table to eat together, fellowship, and relax.
God wants to join you at this time of each day too. Realize that you don’t have to survive this time on your own. God wants to come. He wants to be part of your family mealtime.
INVITE HIM TO COME. This Is the secret. It makes all the difference when you invite Him to come. Let the children be part of inviting Him to come. Help them to realize that God is present with you. Acknowledge His presence. His presence will bring the atmosphere of Heaven to you and it will cover your earthy humanity.
I can’t do without Him at my table. I don’t think you can either.
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
Painting: Jessie Willcox Smith (September 6, 1863 – May 3, 1935).