Feasting At The Banquet of God's Word

[dmiller]

Quoted entirely from Pat's Path of Christ Ministry site -----

"For many people, the following thesis will seem foreign to our current or former mind set that we grew up with in regards to spiritual nourishment and growth.

Many believers have grown up with little exposure to teachers of God’s Word outside of the sphere of the particular group or denomination that we fellowship with. This is sometimes due to lack of searching because of an elitist attitude, and other times due to ignorance.

Many of us who have in the past limited ourselves to a particular group, did so due to an elitist attitude that there couldn’t be anyone as knowledgeable as _______ group so why waste our time with groups that don’t have the rightly divided word and other such contrivances.

This elitist attitude has for many caused them to miss out on a great amount of wonderful learning because of our preconceived prejudices.

"For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." 1 Cor. 4:15

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;" Eph.4:11

The following verses talk about having a great many instructors in Christ and teachers , yet how many of us have limited ourselves to just a few groups or even just one for our spiritual nourishment.

Obviously, the teachings to stay within a certain group for knowledge doesn’t fly because which group could corner the market on all the teachers and instructors.

Of course this can be abused and so you never set down roots with a group of believers and build a work together because you are going everywhere to learn...

What then is the practical answer? The answer is that you do set down roots and build a work with a group of believers, but always keep your eyes open for neat stuff to bring home to your table and also to share with the fellowship.

I would like to illustrate this with the following vision I had of the body of Christ:

We have all been invited to a fabulous banquet to end all banquets by Jesus Christ who is our host and tour guide so to speak of the banquet his father God has put on. There are so many tables of foods from so many caterers and ethnic backgrounds, that it dizzies the mind by the magnitude of choices.

Our tour guide of the banquet Jesus, as he shows our fellowship around, occasionally makes a remark about certain dishes being better left alone, while others being very heartily recommended.

After we are seated however, we are faced with a problem. We had never tried or even known about food other than apples, and we are not sure about that filet mignon and prime rib that one caterer had, or the_______ that another had.

We had done alright on the apples although we didn’t always feel so good, so why change? And even though Jesus did recommend some dishes highly, should we take a chance with something that was unknown to us? What shall we do??

Then the Lord spoke to my heart and brought the following verse to mind:

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths". Proverbs 3:5 & 6

Oh, that’s right, I have holy spirit and can talk to the tour guide and ask about something anytime. Wow! Freedom !! No fear about going outside the nine dots or varieties of apples. And you know that filet mignon sure did look pretty good......

I at one time as many of you lived perhaps only on the diet of apples or maybe grapes of a particular religious group. Sometimes this was due to ignorance, or as many of us had fallen prey to spiritual elitism.

The group we used to belong to said perhaps that they were the only group that had the "rightly divided word" or some other nonsense about only their group was going to heaven, K-Mart or whatever.

The fact is, is that no group owns the "rightly divided word" as it is not an object that one posesses, but an action that we as individuals do when reading the scriptures.

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth". 2 Tim.2:15

There are many wonderful teachers and instructors of God’s Word, and to be healthy spiritually, a balanced diet of many varieties of food is necessary. Just as your physical body is not made to live off of one type of food, so our spiritual bodies as well.

As you explore the banquet that God and Jesus have put on for you, remember to ask questions and heed the admonition of the following verses:

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good".1 Thes. 5:21

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts 17:11

And as you enjoy the bounty set in front of you, remember to thank the host........".[/color]

Edited November 13, 2006 by dmiller

[I Love Bagpipes]

Thank you dmiller. This is a very timely post for me.

And thanks to Pat (whom I will meet at the return) for succinctly putting these words on the page. They have touched this soul at a contemplative time.

[ex10]

What touching words. Thanks, Davey.

[likeaneagle]

Thanks Dave- you surely can see the heart of this man..