Corona Devo 497

Is your spirit hungry?

Have we been skipping "meals"?

Are you lacking nourishment and beginning to feel weak today?

I was.

But it wasn't a physical hunger due to dieting or missing meals. Instead it was my attitude, mood, and heart that were becoming emaciated because I was skipping the buffet of God's Word and thus missing the strength and nourishment that He gives to us through time with Him..

We cannot be filled unless we choose to sit at His table and consume God's Word, teachings, and blessing over our day and our lives. Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35).

Without specific focus and intention to sit down and "dine" with God, we do not eat of his bread and are not quenched but His living water.  And so our hearts and souls hunger and thirst, and our interactions and attitudes show signs of distress.

Whoever comes to me...  (John 6:35).

The catch is, we have to come to Him.  God has a feast prepared for us today if we will accept the invitation to join Him.  I've been making excuses and allowing distractions to well, distract me.  But God has invited us to a feast with Him and in Him today.  No more excuses. 

Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. (17) When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ (18) But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ (19) Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ (20) Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ (21) “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ (22) After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ (23) So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. (24) For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”  ~Luke 14:16-24

What have we been up to lately?  What's been distracting us from "sitting at the table" with Jesus?  What pleasures/responsibilities/time-fillers/time-wasters/good-intentions/tasks, tasks, tasks have caused us to unintentionally skip our daily nourishment from Jesus?  And thus caused us to become weak-in-spirit and short-in-temper.  Critical-in-thought and harsh-in-word?  Impatient-with-others and missing-opportunities to be lights for Him?  What are the excuses causing us to miss a great feast with God? 

Let's return to Him today.  I'm tired of having a starving spirit, aren't you?  I am embarrassed of words that lack His influence and comments that sting instead of bless. 

Jesus invites us and although we may have declined yesterday, we can accept His invitation today.  

Until we take our last breath we still have a fresh opportunity each day to sit down at the banquet of His word and His influence over our lives.  

Although this parable states "For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.” (Luke 14:24), when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, it opened up our seat at the table and our opportunity to join in God's banquet there every day until we have no more days. And if we have not accepted God's invitation while we are living, then these words will ring true and we will not get even the smallest taste of His banquet after death.

He has laid out a feast for us. It begins in silence and with reverence to Him, and it will fill our soul. Feed our heart, and nourish our need for everything we desire.

So let's stop making excuses. We need to recognize whatever has been keeping us from coming to Him, and it's time to do an about-face today.  We may not have just bought a field and need to inspect it, and it's unlikely that we've been busy buying five pairs of oxen and want to try them out, and even if we just got married (Luke 14:18-20)...we have no good reason for ignoring or neglecting the invitation that God extends to us today.

The distractions of life bombard us, but carving out a few minutes with God feeds our soul and changes our outcomes.  If we feast on His word instead of gorging on the world, we are fed, sustained, strengthened and revitalized by the Lord's leading.  When we become too busy or apathetic to "sit at the table with Him", we are the ones that suffer (and those around us).  

I am tired of that hunger and lack of nourishment.  Today, let's be intentional about enjoying the great feast that God has prepared. His invitation is always open. Are we?

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com