{"id":528,"date":"2015-03-09T18:42:29","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T18:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/?p=528"},"modified":"2015-03-16T22:14:29","modified_gmt":"2015-03-16T22:14:29","slug":"the-lord-is-my-shepherd-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/the-lord-is-my-shepherd-23\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lord is my Shepherd (23)"},"content":{"rendered":"

“You prepare a table before me…”<\/em><\/p>\n

The Good \u00a0Shepherd prepares \u00a0a table for us. \u00a0The picture of a table prepared brings to mind a picture of the Thanksgiving dinner set out ready for the family to sit down and begin. \u00a0It is a good scene and brings feelings of warmth and family.<\/p>\n

The Bible is filled with references to times of feasting when families or communities come together to break bread and fellowship with one another. \u00a0It was such an important part of life that God instituted several feasts as ongoing celebrations in the calendar of Israel. \u00a0 Jesus used the banquet table to illustrate the Kingdom of God. \u00a0Many of the stories in Scriptures relate to families gathered around a meal. \u00a0 The main events recorded in the life of Jesus were often related to Jesus going to someone’s house for dinner. \u00a0In the Book of Revelation, John writes down the well known words of Jesus, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. \u00a0If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” \u00a0 The act of salvation itself is described as Jesus coming in to eat with us! \u00a0Even the most precious and intimate sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is based on a meal with Jesus and His disciples.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it is obvious that sharing a meal together is the most common way that Jesus illustrated fellowship. \u00a0This phrase in our Psalm today has the implication of invitation. \u00a0He has prepared the table for you! \u00a0You are expected and invited to sit down and dine with your Shepherd. \u00a0Everything is ready. \u00a0The food has been prepared…the table has been set…the drinks are poured. \u00a0All that is needed is you.<\/p>\n

Once again we are reminded of the total provision of God and His great desire to be an intimate part of our life. \u00a0This brings to mind the Lord’s table mentioned earlier. \u00a0We use a “prepared table” to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. \u00a0It was also a table prepared by Him for us. \u00a0It is also a table that invites us to experience an intimate relationship to Jesus.<\/p>\n

He has prepared the table for us. \u00a0Can you meditate on this thought today? \u00a0Your Good Shepherd wants to dine with you. \u00a0He has prepared it and now invites you to sit with Him and break bread. \u00a0Will you do it today? \u00a0There is no better fellowship than coming to the table prepared by Jesus…the Good Shepherd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“You prepare a table before me…” The Good \u00a0Shepherd prepares \u00a0a table for us. \u00a0The picture of a table prepared brings to mind a picture of the Thanksgiving dinner set out ready for the family to sit down and begin. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lenten_blog_2015","category-all_posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}