As I was driving through town this weekend, one of my favorite songs right now came over the radio. It is Chris Tomlin’s “The Table”. I have heard this song many times over the last several months, but Saturday night it hit me in a completely different way. It struck a cord with me. I was to the point of tears with the beauty and promise in this song.
As we have been celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I can’t help but think of all the people I met last year that have gone either without food or very little food.
Then I heard this song. The lyrics are:
I won’t hunger anymore
At His table
Come all you weary; come and find
His yoke is easy; His burden light
He is able; He will restore
At the table of the Lord
There is peace at the table of the Lord
I won’t worry anymore
At His table
There is healing at the table of the Lord
I won’t suffer anymore
At His table
Come all you weary; come and find
His yoke is easy; His burden light
He is able; He will restore
At the table of the Lord
I know He has a place for me
Oh, what joy will fill my heart
With the saints around the mercy seat of God
Come all you weary; come and find
His yoke is easy; his burden light
He is able; He will restore
At the table of the Lord
At the table of the Lord
I’m invited to the table of the Lord
He says, “Come just as you are”
To His table
At hearing this song on my drive, I was overwhelmed with a sense of love, gratitude, and comfort knowing that there is a day coming when all of my friends around the world will be able to sit at a table filled with food beyond their imagination. They will be able to feast without worrying if they will be able to eat later or not. They will come to the table and be able to rest and relax. They will receive/experience love at the table. They will receive/experience peace at the table. They will receive/experience joy at the table.
Community happens around a table. Family happens around a table. I eagerly await the day when I will get to join those from around the world and see the joy on their face as they realize that they do not have to worry about where their next meal will come, but will finally rest in knowing that they will never go hungry again.
As I was thinking through this concept of the table and this song, the scene from The Blind Side where Michael, the foster son of the family, sits at the family table on Thanksgiving day by himself, and then the mother, Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock), realizes the importance of the table and turns off the football game and makes everyone come to the table. It is here at the table where Michael gets another picture of what a true family is supposed to look and feel like…something he has never had until then.
So my question for you is what is your table used for? Is it being used to create family and community? Is it a place where people feel welcomed and fed? Is it a place where friends become family?
Let’s make the tables in our homes to be places that mirror the Table we will all get to sit at when we join the nations in our Father’s House!
