Following Jesus…to the dinner table

Published by christi on February 27, 2020February 27, 2020

Picking up where we left off…after some more-or-less quiet time with Jesus, an everyday event in this disciple’s life is meal planning.

What in the world does meal planning have to do with following Jesus?!

At the end of this “following” is a great feast! The Marriage Supper of the Lamb… but between here and there, Papa-God has been involved in the meal-planning business for centuries!

The garden of Eden was a beautiful food forest! Talk about planning!

The Law that God communicated through Moses that declared His intentions for life with Him as King specified both feasts (sometimes including the menu) and fasts.  Isaiah (700B.C.) looks forward to a feast for all the nations with delicious, abundant food and drink, connecting it with salvation. Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life, and gives considerable attention to eating or seeing to it that others eat. He knew hunger and recognized it in the faces of those who pursued Him. He preached the message that those who sought His priorities and His character would find their needs for food met.

After He rose from the dead, He surprised His bewildered followers with breakfast on the beach.

Yes, meal planning is part of following Jesus.

How I manage the resources He provides needs to reflect His wishes. Caring for the souls and bodies around my table is not a necessary evil, but a way I can participate in His work.

Jesus ate a Mediterranean diet. DUH. He lived near the Mediterranean! It was what made sense for the area where He lived. There is nothing particularly holy about dried, salted fish and bread made from stone-ground barley. They were the resources at His disposal.

If I have broad-leafed weeds sprouting up all around my house, thanks to the winter rains, THOSE may be the resources I need to use. If my church has a food-buying co-op that stretches my dollars, THAT may be the centerpiece of my menu planning.

There is no “special” or “secret” or “holy” way of planning meals, just the knowledge that I can plan them on my own, or I can plan what I serve for dinner listening for the instructions of my Master who loves me and everyone I feed, and cares for us all: body, soul and spirit.

Following Jesus in the everyday,

Christi

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