Lavish Feast

(This is an older post I made a few years ago - reposted here)

Dear Beloved,

I am watching Bizarre Foods and the host is having a "lavish meal" with a group of Shikh Muslims. They meal apparently has 36 courses! The cooks use every piece of a slaughtered lamb. There isn't one inch of the animal that is wasted.

This feast takes alot of time and preparation. In this feast one member of the family must not eat, he must serve the rest of the family. Wow, the Biblical application here just sort of jumps out at you. The fact that they use the lamb in every single course of the feast shows me a picture of how we should "ingest" Christ into every segment of our daily lives.

Can you imagine living on a steady diet of Jesus? An aroma of Christ that permeates every part of our lives and leaves it's scent on everyone we meet. The thought of eating a meal with 36 different courses is pretty unattractive to me, to be completely honest! Perhaps that is how we view a daily diet of Christ. Maybe the "thought" of covering every aspect of our lives with Christ is just too tiresome, too out of reach, to unattainable . . . sort of like eating a 36 course meal!

I find it extremely interesting that the cooks use every single bit of the lamb. They don't go for the best bits of meat and leave the more "undesireable" cuts in the garbage. They find a use for even the eyeballs and other unappealing parts of the animal.

"Waste not, want not." Hmm, Do I settle on the most appealing, easily digestible aspects of my walk with Christ and leave the "harder to swallow" expectations of the Lord by the wayside? Do I seek out those things in His Word that tickle my ears? Those things that look tasty and are easy to follow? Am I just tossing those harder lessons to the side and dooming myself to repeat habits and sins over and over again because I threw away a piece of the meat that didn't appeal to me? How many of us pick apart the Lamb of God and only consume those parts of Him that appeal to our flesh? Woe to us and our shallow feasting.

Now my last observation was that at least one member of the family didn't eat because he chose instead to serve the family this extravagant meal. Jesus said that He would not partake of the fruit of the vine again until we were together in heaven. He chooses not to "drink" or eat for that matter until we are all served and given a chance to accept the free gift of salvation.

At some point this small feast will end and Jesus will call us home. Then we will begin that amazing Marriage Feast in the presence of Christ and He will eat and drink with us! That is what I consider, withtout equal, a lavish feast.

-M