Enjoy the feast!

Psalm 63   

In the first verse of this Psalm, David says that he has "worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts."  I think it's reasonably safe to assume that at some point, we've all traveled across our own dry and weary deserts.  I don't know what your desert looks like...perhaps there is loss, failure, guilt, shame, self loathing, lies, deceit, or betrayal.  I too have walked through some of my own deserts…and had accepted all of those negative labels I just described as the truth of me. Thankfully, God does not accept those labels.  He does not see any one of us as undeserving, or too unacceptable to be in His presence.

David goes on to describe what it means to be in the presence of God… and he writes that in that place I can "eat my fill of prime rib and gravy; I smack my lips" (v 5). I ask God to tell me more about that, and then I imagined the following scene.

I've received a beautifully engraved invitation from God that reads, 'For my beautiful, precious child.  You are invited to join me for a celebration.  I hope you will come.'

I accept the invitation, and when I show up for the celebration I marvel at what I see.  I stand waiting outside of a beautiful pristine room. I see a table.  It is HUGE and the legs of the table look sturdy enough to support a house!  But the table is so heavily laden, that those legs are groaning beneath the weight of the feast, and for a moment I worry that it might collapse.

Jesus enters the room and smiles at me…he waits for me to enter, but I am afraid.  I look at myself and feel like the room is far too beautiful…and I am not clean enough to enter.  I feel a sense of desperation and sadness.  Surely when my host notices my soiled life and tattered soul, I will be turned away.  And so, before I can be rejected, I begin to turn away.  I hear him gently inquire… 'Where are you going, my friend?'   I respond…embarrassed and ashamed…that I didn't realize it was such a formal occasion and that in my present state, the guest of honor would be horrified by my appearance.

He smiles.

He tells me then that I am the guest of honor.  He tells me that he does not see in me what I see.  I remind him to look back at my life. 'Just look at all of the mistakes and failures that follow me,' I cry.  'I can't possibly be the guest of honor at such an elegant feast!'  He smiles again and gently takes me by the arm and leads me to the table.

It is then that I really see.  The table is groaning beneath heaps and heaps of platters of forgiveness, mercy, grace, redemption, freedom, compassion, and love.  I've never seen anything like it.  I look around again and notice that I am alone in the room with Jesus.  'When will the others come?' I ask.

He smiles.

'The others all have their own feasts.  This one is yours.  All of this has been specially prepared for you.' 

'Really?  For me?  Are you sure?  But you know what I've done… who I've been…I understand if you want to change your mind… Really…I should probably go.'

He smiles. 

He breaks off a piece of forgiveness and brings it to my lips.  I taste it… and it is divine.  He keeps on serving me, and letting me sample all of the flavors at the table.  I love it all. Everything is succulent, tender, and perfectly prepared.  It is exquisite…and it is mine, and there is more than enough. There is abundance...and now I don't ever want to leave this place.

 

And so my friends, at this point I will close and ask you to sit at your banquet… enjoy the feast!

Blessings,

Kelly Skelton