Table Time Devotional

As I thought about the holidays, the first thing that immediately came to my mind was relationships. Relationships with people I love and people I will share time with that I don’t get to share time with any other time during the year. Holidays truly are a special time, so I will make the most of the time I get to spend with them, especially while sitting around our old dining room table. I like table time because Jesus liked table time.

We know from Luke chapter 24 verse 36 and following that Jesus appears to his disciples, not as a ghost, but in bodily form, and after showing them his hands and side where he had been pierced, being from southern Galilee, I’m sure he said something like, “Y’all got something to eat here?”  Then…….. AFTER THEY HAD EATEN…….it says he opened their minds so they could comprehend even more.

 During, and especially after a meal, you share with people you love; opportunities arise for you to share things you may not have a chance to share at any other time.

 Throughout the Bible, mealtime is bonding time. 

 Jesus himself said:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (NIV: Revelation 3: 20)

 Even in what seems like the darkest hour of Jesus’s ministry, when Jesus himself wanted to explain to his disciples what his forthcoming death was all about, he didn’t say let me give you all the facts about what is going to happen, he shared His story through a meal.”

Some things don’t change, and mealtime can be a bonding time like no other.

 As I think about table time with people I love, I think about an old table I built years ago, and when I sit there all alone, I can look around that table and see the people we loved the most who have sat there with us. 

 Meals were shared. Stories were told. Sins were confessed. We laughed together and cried together. Together, we remembered where we’d been and dreamed of where God would take us on this journey.

 We prayed at that table. And there at that table, we experienced God’s nearness, kindness, and love.

 Sharing around a table is one of our most uniquely human things. 

 No other creature sits at a table to eat its food. Sharing table time with others reminds us there’s more to food than fuel. 

 We don’t eat only for sustenance. We eat for fellowship.

God himself reminds us,

“You treat me to a feast

    while my enemies watch.

You honor me as your guest

    and fill my cup until it overflows.”

 Psalm 23:5 CEV

So, during this holiday season, remember the value of table time.