The Dinner Table

Jesus KNEW Judas was going to betray him and still invited him to dinner.

This weekend I could NOT stop thinking about this.

He KNEW his killer-to-be and still sat at the table with him and continued to witness. As one of my facebook friends put it, "it's like Jesus telling me despite the sin I have done and am about to do, he still has a place for me at his table."

Throughout all the Easter weekend activities (which was a JAM-packed weekend) I kept finding myself thinking back to this.

I was trying to fathom what Jesus did. What would I have done? Did Judas feel guilty eating dinner knowing what he was about to do?

Sometimes I go through times when I feel like Jesus is "mad" at me, or I have to do a few good deeds or have some extra "godly" days before I can buddy back up with him. Like I have to "earn" my relationship.

He wants us at his dinner table, no matter what our day activities were or what plans we have for the night.

It works both ways, though. He wants us there, but who are WE willing to invite to the dinner table?

At the grocery store tonight, I was picking up some bananas and skinny cow icecream. The cashier was a younger guy, probably in his early twenties. He was asking what I did for Easter, and I started to kind of complain about all the driving we had to do, the large quantities of food we had to eat, all the chit-chat we had to make and how I was soo tired and still needed to get organized for the upcoming week.

I made the polite/obligated/don't-really-care-but-have-to-ask "What did you do for Easter dinner?"

I then realized he probably had to work and my complaining was probably SUPER annoying to him. He looked up at me, smiled a HUGE grin and said "Oh I had to work most of the day, but this morning my dad and I had breakfast at I-Hop. It was awesome."

He was genuinely SO happy and content with his Easter morning, and I realized it doesn't even matter what kind of dinner table we have. It doesn't matter what flowers are in the centerpieces, how many gravy boats are at each end, or even if there isn't a tablecloth. The petty things I was stressing about and complaining about this weekend? DUMB. It wouldn't have mattered if my Easter meal was at the corner booth at I-Hop. It's all about the company and who we invite to our "dinner table," wherever it may be.

Who are you going to invite over for dinner this week?