You can have a seat at my table

I recently read this book. It’s easy to read, relatively short, small pages, and big type. Here are some of what I took away from this book!

The Bible is full of stories about eating at a table together. The Table is the opportunity to share stories of our lives. The Table is the opportunity to be leaders of instruction, and to tell our family history.
The Table is where community is found and Identity is formed! The Table is where we find family, friends, and our very existence.

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Adam and Eve, were told to take and eat anything from the garden, except…
 
The Israelite's were supplied manna, (food and drink) until they entered the promised, do you remember what it was called?  “The Land of Milk and Honey.”
 
Several times we read about Jesus sitting down at a table, with his family and friends, to eat!
From the Wedding at Cana,
to Mary and Martha’s house,
to an upper room,
even a seashore when his disciples brought in a boatload of fish, (the very first Men’s Breakfast).
 
I meet every two weeks with my ROMEO club! (Retired-Old-Men-Eating-Out) – Why? Just for the fellowship. Recently, after we met one of our ROMEO’s texted me and said, “The conversation and camaraderie was so good that I don’t even remember what I ate.”
 
Do you remember this song?
"All things are ready," come to the feast!
Come, for the table now is spread;
Ye famishing, ye weary, come,
And thou shalt be richly fed.
 
There are more business deals made at the table than a conference room,
I once had a Sales-Manager tell me, “If you’re at the end of the meal and they haven’t agreed to the sale yet, look around for the waiter and ask for the Dessert Menu! And, if they have already agreed to the sale, look around for the waiter and ask for the Dessert Menu… to celebrate!”
           
Family Time? 
Win the game?  Let’s go for Ice Cream!      
Lose the game?  Let’s go for Ice Cream!
 
Two of my favorite TV shows was Duck Dynasty, and Blue-Bloods, because every episode ended with a family meal at a big dining table!
 
Do you regularly meet at your table with your family, your small group, your friends, and your church family!
 
Stats on Family eating together…
Sociologist Cody Delistraty did some research and found the following…
 
1. The #1 factor for parents raising kids who are drug-free, healthy, intelligent, kind human beings? FREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS
 
2. The #1 predictor of future academic success for elementary aged children?
FREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS
 
3. The variable associated with lower incidence of depression and suicidal thoughts among 11-18-year-olds?            FREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS
 
4. The #1 shaper of vocabulary in younger, even more than any other family event, including play?                  FREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS
 
5. One of the safeguards against obesity in children?           
FREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS
 
6. The best prescription to prevent eating disorders among adolescent girls?      
FREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS

Let's commit to having a common, familial, and a spiritual experience… with each other and with Jesus. Lets share a meal together and with Jesus to find our community and to form our identity!