Imagine, if you will, a place setting at a table. But not just any table. This is a place setting at a king's table. There is a clean, gold rimmed plate laying in the center of the setting with a smaller plate directly on top of it. Surrounding them are 2 or 3 forks in varying sizes with a knife and spoon. Off to one side is a smaller bread plate. This setting boasted two glasses of specific purpose. One is for water and another for wine. Each of the pieces is shined to perfection and is worthy of royalty.
Now, if you will continue to imagine, time passes, the food has been served, and the guests have departed. Let's look over the room again. The plates have remnants of the most succulent food you can imagine. There are left-over bites of steak and lamb. Dabs of butters and sauces are remaining along the edges. Some of the bread plates have the last bite that the guest was too full to finish. The knives and forks have all been used. Wine sits in the bottom of glasses and there is no ice left in the water. Then you notice another plate. This one has been added to accommodate dessert. You can see bits of moist chocolate cake and rich mousse.
There at the edge of the table is something odd. A setting that has not been touched. It is perfectly clean, just as it was at the beginning. And there, over there, the guest that sat there is scurrying around the room sneaking bits and bites off of nearby plates. They are savoring the late tiny piece of someone else's blessing.
Too often I look around my world and I see Christians scurrying around trying to get a taste of someone else's blessing. They read books and listen podcasts and worship cds. Don't get me wrong, these are all good thing. These are things that I love and participate in often. But sometimes we miss out on the blessing meant for us because we are scrounging around picking up the scraps.
Are you living on the crumbs at the Father's table? Are you picking at someone else's blessing? Or are you partaking in every aspect of the feast?
Look around you. There is blessing to be had. There is more than enough to go around. That clean place setting is yours. It is at the Father's table. It is perfect and clean and ready. Are you ready to fill your plate with goodness from the Father? Are you ready to eat of his goodness and his riches?
You have been invited to the feast. You have been made clean and you are worthy. Don't live on the crumbs and the scraps. Live on the fullness that is God.
