Reason #713
At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over...Ruth also gave her (mother in law) the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.- Ruth 2:14 & 17
Invited to the table. A foreigner, welcomed to dine freely Hungry, tired, in need of nourishment, Ruth sat down at the table. In the company of men she hardly knew, but he insisted she join them. Boaz, her kinsman redeemer, personally asked her to come. He provided the meal, all she had to do was simply eat. No work on her part, she was just coming to enjoy what was provided for her. Food that would give her energy, that would quiet her growling stomach. Food that would satisfy and fill her after a hard days work. Ruth helped herself at the table, and she found that there was more than enough for her.
The unexpected guest, yet he had a place for her. He wasn't running short on supply, but he fed her adequately and then some. She was satisfied, filled to the brim. She couldn't even eat the full amount that was there. And after gleaning in a field for hours, after sweating as the hot sun beat down on her, back aching and sore hands, I can image it felt as if she was at a feast. A chance to take a break and be filled after exerting herself all day. And really, Ruth needed this. She had been pouring out her energy and efforts to provide for her mother-in-law as well, so now it was Ruth's turn to be provided for. And so he met her needs, He knew that she would be leaving the table to meet the needs of another, so he sent her away with excess. And although Ruth could have hid it for herself or eaten on the walk back home, she took it and she shared it. From the same table at which her needs were met, so were the needs of another. She carried the provisions, the life sustaining nourishment with her as she went away, and she shared it as freely as she had received it.
He calls us to the table. A feast prepared for us with the richest of fare. A seat saved for us. He personally invites us to come and eat, to be filled. To taste of goodness and to find rest for our weary souls. To fill our lives with the things from above, the things that truly satisfy. He asks us to join and to freely eat. Our redeemer calls us to join Him at the table. To fellowship with Him. To be nourished and revitalized so that our needs can be met and our hearts can be overwhelmed. Because the table never runs dry. We can go and eat and eat some more and there's still food to be had. There for the taking, He freely provides. All that He asks of us is to join Him at the table.
And when our hearts have been filled and our spirits refreshed, He sends us out. Yet we never leave the table empty handed, but rather we leave with life giving gifts that He sends with us. Because at the table, we receive and when we leave, we give what we were given. Hungry souls to be fed, and so we share what God has given us. From the abundance, from the excess, we pour into their malnourished lives and we take them back to the table so that He can give them eternal life.
#713 - Because there is always room at His table, and we never leave it unsatisfied or empty handed.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." - Psalm 34:8-10
Invited to the table. A foreigner, welcomed to dine freely Hungry, tired, in need of nourishment, Ruth sat down at the table. In the company of men she hardly knew, but he insisted she join them. Boaz, her kinsman redeemer, personally asked her to come. He provided the meal, all she had to do was simply eat. No work on her part, she was just coming to enjoy what was provided for her. Food that would give her energy, that would quiet her growling stomach. Food that would satisfy and fill her after a hard days work. Ruth helped herself at the table, and she found that there was more than enough for her.
The unexpected guest, yet he had a place for her. He wasn't running short on supply, but he fed her adequately and then some. She was satisfied, filled to the brim. She couldn't even eat the full amount that was there. And after gleaning in a field for hours, after sweating as the hot sun beat down on her, back aching and sore hands, I can image it felt as if she was at a feast. A chance to take a break and be filled after exerting herself all day. And really, Ruth needed this. She had been pouring out her energy and efforts to provide for her mother-in-law as well, so now it was Ruth's turn to be provided for. And so he met her needs, He knew that she would be leaving the table to meet the needs of another, so he sent her away with excess. And although Ruth could have hid it for herself or eaten on the walk back home, she took it and she shared it. From the same table at which her needs were met, so were the needs of another. She carried the provisions, the life sustaining nourishment with her as she went away, and she shared it as freely as she had received it.
He calls us to the table. A feast prepared for us with the richest of fare. A seat saved for us. He personally invites us to come and eat, to be filled. To taste of goodness and to find rest for our weary souls. To fill our lives with the things from above, the things that truly satisfy. He asks us to join and to freely eat. Our redeemer calls us to join Him at the table. To fellowship with Him. To be nourished and revitalized so that our needs can be met and our hearts can be overwhelmed. Because the table never runs dry. We can go and eat and eat some more and there's still food to be had. There for the taking, He freely provides. All that He asks of us is to join Him at the table.
And when our hearts have been filled and our spirits refreshed, He sends us out. Yet we never leave the table empty handed, but rather we leave with life giving gifts that He sends with us. Because at the table, we receive and when we leave, we give what we were given. Hungry souls to be fed, and so we share what God has given us. From the abundance, from the excess, we pour into their malnourished lives and we take them back to the table so that He can give them eternal life.
#713 - Because there is always room at His table, and we never leave it unsatisfied or empty handed.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." - Psalm 34:8-10