A Shared Meal

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Image Source: Mindfuel

"The Pharisees and teachers of the Law asked Jesus: 'Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?'"
- Luke 5:30

Jesus spent his time on earth eating and drinking - a lot of his time.

Throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus was either coming from a meal, at a meal, or going to a meal. It was often around a meal that Jesus' discipleship and evangelism took place.

There is something special about sharing a meal together.

I am reminded of this every time my wife and I get to visit our families in East London and every time we sit down to share a meal with friends. Whether celebrating a special event like Christmas, Easter, anniversaries, birthdays, or even just a quick catch-up session, God's grace is evident around a table of food and drink.

Sharing a meal is more than merely eating food together. A shared meal represents friendship, community, hospitality and grace.

Jesus was called a glutton and a drunkard because he ate and drank with tax-collectors and sinners. Often we don't live up to Jesus' model of sharing meal with the least of these as we prefer to stick to socializing with our favorites, but it is here where God's grace is truly evident in the sharing of a meal.

A shared meal is an opportunity for people from all walks of life to gather together, regardless of status, sinfulness or beliefs.

Let us not be selfish and exclusive about who we share our meals with. Let us experience God's grace working in us as we share meals together.

Finally, let us not forget that God's grace which we experience in the sharing of a meal is only a small foretaste of the heavenly banquet that Christ has prepared for us.

"On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine-- the best of meats and the finest of wines."
- Isaiah 25:6

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