How to Have Jesus as Your Dinner Guest

Open your door to Peace

Have you ever hesitated at a dinner invitation?

Not sure of your comfort level in the unfamiliar?

Or balked at someone inviting themselves to your home for dinner?

Intimidating to say the least, unless it is someone close to you.

What if you heard a knock just as you were about to sit down to eat?

A sigh of inconvenience, if not reluctant steps to the door, would be a fairly ‘normal’ human reaction to this, don’t you think?

What if an inconvenient knock was an opportunity?

“Scooch over and make room,” my mother prompted us as naturally as breathing. All nine chairs scraped sideways on our worn linoleum. One of us would grab the loaf of bread to add to the table, another a chair, and a plate and place would appear so fast you would think it was planned.

When a friend arrived alongside one of us or there was a knock at the door just in time for a meal, there was always room for one more.

You may not have left our family table full, but you weren’t hungry. The ease of acceptance and welcome filled all of our bodies and souls. Never mind that the dishes weren’t done or the floor washed. You were invited to take a seat and share in what we had.

I wish I could say that for all my adult life, hospitality has been as easy for me as it was for my mother. My chase for perfection in just about everything saw my focus on presentation rather than connection.

My recovery from hospitality perfection began with opening the door to a gentle, persistent knock.

Jesus stands at your door and knocks, offering to come in and dine with you (see Revelation 3¹).

But He doesn’t come alongside a friend or sibling, that paves His way to your table.

Jesus is a gentleman.

He patiently waits for your openness and permission to join you.

He won’t take a seat unless you make room for Him, prepare a place for Him, and invite Him to pull up a chair.

Ankauf von der Kunsthandlung, The Mealtime Prayer, c. 1886, oil on canvas, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, in the public domain.

But when you do, and when He does, there is no apprehension, intimidation, or the annoyance of inconvenience.

Dining with Jesus is restful and rejuvenating.

Your table becomes a place of Peace.

You have invited Peace, Himself, the cornerstone for connection. Whether shoulder-to-shoulder or face-to-face, His unconditional love burrows down and feeds your soul.

You are seen and known.

You will want to keep coming back to your table again and again. Your family, too.

Gathering Peace at your table may be easy for you. Or it may be hard fought and not seem worth it at all.

I am here to help you know it is worth it.

Peace follows when you hear His knock, open the door, and welcome Him to pull up a chair. Whether that's to the places you hide deep, or the chaos every night called dinner.

Begin Gathering Peace with Wonder

What is one way you can lean your ear to hear Jesus’ knock?

Do you hesitate to open the door for Him to come in and dine with you? Why?

What stops you from making more room for Jesus at your table? Or in your heart?

Peace at your table and in your heart starts with wondering.

And asking the Lord to reveal to you what’s in the way.

Next time you hear a knock, allow it to remind you of the One waiting for you to invite Him in.

Thank you for pulling up a chair to The Contented Table. I am so glad you came.

Invite a friend for next time. There is always room for one more.

Until then, a gentle reminder,

God wants you to know:

I see you, I hear you, I love you.

Jane

P.S. Prefer a smaller group conversation? Pull up a chair to the Gathering Peace Insiders’ Table Talk when you become a paid subscriber.

1. Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. NASB 1995